President Barack Obama denounced the racial profiling and arrest of Harvard professor and friend, Henry Louis Gates Jr., who was detained by Cambridge Police, on what were very flimsy charges.
After returning home from a trip to China, America's preeminent black scholar, Gates, used a key to enter his house from the backdoor, after realizing the front entry was jammed.
As he tried to open the jammed door from inside his house, the police entered the property and a very unpleasant exchange ensued.
In spite of the fact he showed them two forms of ID, his drivers license and a Harvard identification, he was carted off to jail.
Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Previously, a black journalist sued the City of New York and won, after police officers arrested him for breaking into his own car, when he was unable to locate his keys, in spite of the fact he showed them valid identification and presented ownership of the vehicle.
What is this? Keys-don't-work-go-to-jail year.
Obama spoke of the fact more blacks and Latinos are pulled over by the police, than whites, lamenting the disparities.
As I stated yesterday, Gates should sue. According to Boston.com today, he is considering it.
Obama: Cambridge police acted 'stupidly'
Gates was arrested for allegedly disorderly conduct -- a charge that was quickly dropped -- after a confrontation with a police officer inside his own home. Though some facts of the case are still in dispute, Obama showed little doubt about who had been wronged.
Gates considering lawsuit over his arrest
July 22, 2009 11:48 AM - Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. said this morning that he has not ruled out the possibility of filing a lawsuit over his arrest last week.
“Oh yeah, I’m considering a lawsuit, sure,” the noted scholar told a Globe reporter in a phone interview from Martha’s Vineyard, a day after authorities agreed to drop a disorderly conduct charge against him. “Wouldn’t you?”...
