Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Henry Louis Gates Arrested in his own home

Iowa_Flames_Fan · 07-22-2009, 11:06 PM

Didn't see this posted, surprisingly. A big story for opponents of racial profiling from my old neck of the woods.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/07/21/...ted/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/22/gat...ml#cnnSTCVideo

In essence, the story is this. Police responded to a call about two black men breaking into a house in Cambridge, MA. Turns out, one of those two men was Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a prominent African-American scholar, and more pertinently to the story, the owner of the house. The other man was Gates' driver. They weren't breaking in--the front door was jammed.

When police got there and knocked on the door, Gates answered, and they asked him to step outside. He was understandably frustrated, but both sides agree that he at that point showed his ID to the officer--who then arrested him anyway, for reasons that are a bit hard to fathom.

After Gates had been at the station for four hours, they charged him with disorderly conduct and sent him home. Charges were later dropped because of how utterly stupid they were.

Anyone still think racial profiling is dead in America?

07-22-2009, 11:06 PM	#1
Iowa_Flames_Fan Referee Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Over the hill Exp:	Henry Louis Gates Arrested in his own home Didn't see this posted, surprisingly. A big story for opponents of racial profiling from my old neck of the woods. http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/07/21/...ted/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/22/gat...ml#cnnSTCVideo In essence, the story is this. Police responded to a call about two black men breaking into a house in Cambridge, MA. Turns out, one of those two men was Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a prominent African-American scholar, and more pertinently to the story, the owner of the house. The other man was Gates' driver. They weren't breaking in--the front door was jammed. When police got there and knocked on the door, Gates answered, and they asked him to step outside. He was understandably frustrated, but both sides agree that he at that point showed his ID to the officer--who then arrested him anyway, for reasons that are a bit hard to fathom. After Gates had been at the station for four hours, they charged him with disorderly conduct and sent him home. Charges were later dropped because of how utterly stupid they were. Anyone still think racial profiling is dead in America?