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July 23, 2009

Prof. Gates broke no laws, but the arresting officer may have.

The issue of Professor Gates' arrest isn't going away. Today we find that the arresting officer is a racial profiling expert, or at least he teaches a class in racial profiling. And President Obama's brief comment on it has created a dust-up and led to the White House trying to clarify exactly who or what the President was referring to when he said that the arrest was "stupid".

John Cook, of the website Gawker provides us with comprehensive a legal analysis,

This account is based on the police report, a statement from Gates' lawyer, interviews by Gates given after the arrest, and a radio interview that the arresting officer gave this morning.

Noteworthy are several points. It doesn't appear that Dr. Gates clearly violated any laws or statutes. More interesting though, it appears that the arresting officer may have violated several. He didn't provide identification as Dr. Gates had repeatedly requested - Mass. state law clearly requires police to provide identification when it's lawfully requested and Dr. Gates appears to have had every legal right to request it. Officer Crowley may also have illegally entered Dr. Gates' home. Thirdly, Crowley appears to have entrapped Gates by suggesting that he'd comply with the request for his identification if Gates would come out on the porch... where he could then arrest Gates.

Here's the thing that's really sticking in my craw about all this: Yes, I agree that Professor Gates responded poorly. No, I don't agree with his characterization that this was about race. But so what!! If an otherwise law-abiding citizen can't act poorly in his own home then the whole "land of the free" thing is nothing more than a sick joke.

Keep in mind that Gates had just returned from China. Where at in China, I don't know. But let's assume that it was in the center of China. That happens to be almost exactly on the opposite side of the world from Cambridge Mass. So when his driver was seen using his shoulder to try to get Gates' front door open shortly after Noon, to Gates body clock that was shortly after midnight or thereabouts.

I think it's entirely reasonably to expect an elderly man to be grouchy at that time of night. Add in the bronchial infection, his preexisting disability and the frustration with his door not opening and, while I don't know that I'd have acted as poorly as he did, I do think that it is entirely reasonable to expect someone his age under those circumstances to be cranky.

From the NYT, “While I was led to believe that Gates was lawfully in the residence,” Sergeant Crowley wrote in the report, “I was quite surprised and confused with the behavior he exhibited toward me.”

As you can see the police report clearly indicates that the arresting officer was convinced that Dr. Gates was in his own home (and not a suspected burglar) very early on in the confrontation. So what happened after that had nothing to do with the initial 911 call and everything to do with the egos of them two men involved. Except that it took place in Dr. Gates' own home... his castle, as it were.

It seems clear to me that the arresting officer wasn't reacting to a "black" man per se, he was reacting to a man who wasn't exhibiting the level of deference that his ego had become used to. So he appears to have entrapped Gates into stepping outside of his home so that he could assuage his own ego by arresting Gates.

Posted by Kevin at July 23, 2009 01:23 PM