Harvard scholar's arrest raises profiling questions

[Minya's wife 25]

Whos telling the truth here is the big question. I will give the cops the benefit of the doubt.

And I'm more inclined to give Gates the benefit of the doubt.

[HAL 9000 96]

Perhaps a bit ironic but if the debate here were over '2nd Amendment' gun-type possession laws the cops would be lambasted by a few of the defenders of cops in this incident as some kind of Obama-inspired gun-grab.

[_Simpson_ 250]

Whos telling the truth here is the big question. I will give the cops the benefit of the doubt.

And I'm more inclined to give Gates the benefit of the doubt.

fair enough, only time will tell, hopefully.

[mendeleev 68]

#######? Are you kidding me...people are actually agreeing w/ the police on this one???

Well yes of course, what good reason did this professor have for getting a attidude and pulling out the race card right away. They were there too help him. People here sometimes really amaze me. Where you guys dropped on your head as a kid.

Sorry, but if anyone came over and accused me of trying to get into MY house, there will be plenty of attitude on my part. Count on that. And, for those who do not know prof. Gates from Adam, he is one of the most kind and non-chalant academics you will ever meet: not a diva, so your theory just does not fly. And yes, I know ####### I am talking about.

You dont know him, you dont know what he really is like. Put yourself in the officers shoes. They show up to a house that was reported to have somebody breaking in, they knock on the door and ask to speak to the man and he refuses and pulls out the race card and refuses to give ID. Where would that leave you, to get pissed at these officers is just not rational, the guy had a attitude that was unjustified. The officers at that point didnt know who he was, THE GUY WOULD NOT SHOW HIM HIS ID! It was later when he did. I would be thankful to know that the officers were there to check in on an reported burglary on MY house.

A few weeks ago, cops turned up at my home, accusing me of beating my wife. (Turned out the guy beneath us had been yelling loudly and hitting furniture when his sports team threw away a game in the playoffs. The cops showed *zero* interest in getting to the true bottom of the disturbance in our neighborhood.)

My mistake is that I was cooperative with police. They intimidated my wife and I for over an hour, separately, threatening me, then her, with arrest for ... absolutely nothing at all. Eventually they did leave with making an arrest. It was outrageous. These cops invaded our home, separated us, abused us, without any grounds.

We complained in writing to the chief of police. His written response was essentially ... "Hey, we're the cops. Deal with it. We can do what we want."

By the way, we are white ... maybe that is a reason neither of us got arrested?

There are only two times you need to be afraid of the cops: when you've done something wrong .... and when you haven't.

Edited July 21, 2009 by novotul

[dalegg 143]

Perhaps a bit ironic but if the debate here were over '2nd Amendment' gun-type possession laws the cops would be lambasted by a few of the defenders of cops in this incident as some kind of Obama-inspired gun-grab.

Or perhaps if it happened in Texas they'd be blaming Republicans or something.

[_Simpson_ 250]

#######? Are you kidding me...people are actually agreeing w/ the police on this one???

Well yes of course, what good reason did this professor have for getting a attidude and pulling out the race card right away. They were there too help him. People here sometimes really amaze me. Where you guys dropped on your head as a kid.

Sorry, but if anyone came over and accused me of trying to get into MY house, there will be plenty of attitude on my part. Count on that. And, for those who do not know prof. Gates from Adam, he is one of the most kind and non-chalant academics you will ever meet: not a diva, so your theory just does not fly. And yes, I know ####### I am talking about.

You dont know him, you dont know what he really is like. Put yourself in the officers shoes. They show up to a house that was reported to have somebody breaking in, they knock on the door and ask to speak to the man and he refuses and pulls out the race card and refuses to give ID. Where would that leave you, to get pissed at these officers is just not rational, the guy had a attitude that was unjustified. The officers at that point didnt know who he was, THE GUY WOULD NOT SHOW HIM HIS ID! It was later when he did. I would be thankful to know that the officers were there to check in on an reported burglary on MY house.

A few weeks ago, cops turned up at my home, accusing me of beating my wife. (Turned out the guy beneath us had been yelling loudly and hitting furniture when his sports team threw away a game in the playoffs. The cops showed *zero* interest in getting to the true bottom of the disturbance in our neighborhood.)

My mistake is that I was cooperative with police. They intimidated my wife and I for over an hour, separately, threatening me, then her, with arrest for ... absolutely nothing at all. Eventually they did leave with making an arrest. It was outrageous. These cops invaded our home, separated us, abused us, without any grounds.

We complained in writing to the chief of police. His written response was essentially ... "Hey, we're the cops. Deal with it. We can do what we want."

By the way, we are white ... maybe that is a reason neither of us got arrested?

There are only two times you need to be afraid of the cops: when you've done something wrong .... and when you haven't.

I dont see your case as being the norm. Did you or didnt you get arrested, you have contradicted yourself. If your wife had no physical evidence of abuse and didnt agree to press charges then they would of overstepped there boundaries by arresting you.

Edited July 21, 2009 by looking_up

[HAL 9000 96]

Perhaps a bit ironic but if the debate here were over '2nd Amendment' gun-type possession laws the cops would be lambasted by a few of the defenders of cops in this incident as some kind of Obama-inspired gun-grab.

Or perhaps if it happened in Texas they'd be blaming Republicans or something.

In Texas there's Walker, Texas Ranger. He would've sorted this matter out in a jiffy.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I call bullsh!t on any of you who say that you'd be calm and collected if the police showed up to your house and accused you of robbing it. . I've actually been in this situation, it is extremely humiliating and degrading. If you don't feel pissed off after something like that happens, then you are a robot.

No sh!t.

[HAL 9000 96]

I call bullsh!t on any of you who say that you'd be calm and collected if the police showed up to your house and accused you of robbing it. . I've actually been in this situation, it is extremely humiliating and degrading. If you don't feel pissed off after something like that happens, then you are a robot.

No sh!t.

[Danno 1,228]

Bottom line is, he got special treatment.

If you or I had been cuffed (rightly or wrongly) there is no way they would have dropped the charges so quick.

It would seem the cops chest mounted radio would have recorded the exchange between the two.

Then we would know who was out of line.

The truth is the "race card" does in many ways often work and unfortunately "some" use it when there is no cause.

[pedroh 21]

mhh an Ice-Cube song would be appropiate for this situation.. I'd be pissed off too if a cop would ask me for an ID while I'm trying to enter my apartment, that'd be big time BS, and I'd also ask for a freakin badge number and name..

[_Simpson_ 250]

mhh an Ice-Cube song would be appropiate for this situation.. I'd be pissed off too if a cop would ask me for an ID while I'm trying to enter my apartment, that'd be big time BS, and I'd also ask for a freakin badge number and name..

Looks like you didnt read the article according to your post.

[pedroh 21]

hey, if I told the cop, look dude here's my ID, I live here, and still keeps asking questions, I'd be pissed off like a madman too.. why ask more questions? that's just being exaggerated from the cops side.. and if they keep doing it, I'm gonna ask for a badge and name, and if they dont give me that, I'm gonna haev a fit, they can't just do that sh!t.. they are servers of the law, not fukcin vigilantes

[HAL 9000 96]

This is in fact what many officers do once establishing there is no crime to book. Temporarily detain and release with an apology once clearing the 'suspect.' I smell a bit of individualistic attitude from the professor (health, arrogance, racial defensiveness based on likely history of facing racism in the past, etc) and attitude from the arresting officers wanting to show him a lesson for daring to snap back at them. Both are guilty or overreacting, but the police in this case overstepped their authority.

bump

[_Simpson_ 250]

hey, if I told the cop, look dude here's my ID, I live here, and still keeps asking questions, I'd be pissed off like a madman too.. why ask more questions? that's just being exaggerated from the cops side.. and if they keep doing it, I'm gonna ask for a badge and name, and if they dont give me that, I'm gonna haev a fit, they can't just do that sh!t.. they are servers of the law, not fukcin vigilantes

At first he wouldnt give him the ID. It all depends on who is telling the truth, both have conflicting stories. I see you are giving the professor the benefit of the doubt.