Quote:
Originally Posted by monkeyman
I'm too lazy to go back to the original report but I believe it did state that Gates said to the officer something along the lines of you don't know who your dealing with... the officer stated he did not know what that meant. Also, watching the interview Gates gave on CNN, he also stated that he did feel the cop was profiling him and something along the lines of the cop couldn't stand a black man standing up for his rights, right in his face. now to me, that does sound aggressive.
And for the neighbor calling the cops, it states the Driver was trying to push open the door, not gates, so the neighbor was not profiling, she saw an unknown individual trying to enter her neighbors house.
Also, the cop should have followed Gates into the other room, had he been a burglar, perhaps he might have been trying to exit the house. Remember, this was before Gates produced any id.
Honestly, stop making this about race, it’s not.
And yes, I am a minority, so if you don’t agree with me it must be because you’re a racist.
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For you and me, this situation may not be about race. For Gates, it most certainly was. Don't forget that it is Gates' contention that he produced ID as quickly as he could, and that he was arrested immediately upon stepping onto the porch, with no explanation. It's one of the key differences between the police report and Gates' testimony. So--for Gates it's about race. Doesn't mean it has to be for us, but looking at the context it's easy to see how Gates felt that it was.
However, there is a pretty clear issue of due process and civil rights here. Gates is within his rights in not wanting to step outside his house to have a conversation with an officer. He can easily have the conversation through his door. He is also within his rights to demand ID, and the officer
must comply. Officer Crowley, according to both Gates
and his own statement, did not.
Lastly, there is the right to speak freely and express your opinion, even to an officer of the law. We may or may not feel that Gates' accusation was
justified. However, you must agree that
he has the right to make the accusation, whether or not it is true. This has an important implication. Free speech doesn't mean "they can arrest you on trumped up charges, but they have to let you go later. Free speech means the freedom to speak your mind without fear of molestation or harassment from the authorities.
Let me put this another way: Gates may well have been wrong. He may well have been a jerk. He may even have been a racist--I wasn't there. But what he was not is a criminal. You can't arrest people without probable cause to believe that they have committed or will commit a crime. It's kind of an important plank in building a free society--it's one very important thing that differentiates us from a police state.