Racism in prof arrest?

Police say scholar became unruly during questioning at home

 

Gates

 

Renowned African-American scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. accused a Cambridge police officer of racism after being questioned by cops investigating a call about a break-in at his home, according to various news reports.

Gates, a 58-year-old Harvard University professor who has worked on numerous acclaimed PBS programs, was arrested outside his house on Ware Street in Cambridge Thursday for disorderly conduct. Police were responding to a resident’s call that someone was trying to break into the home, according to a copy of the incident report obtained by The Boston Globe.

When police arrived, an officer saw Gates trying to get into the house. When the officer asked to speak with him about a report of a possible break-in, Gates exclaimed, “Why, because I’m a black man?” and called the officer a racist, according to the police report.

Gates initially refused to identify himself and when he continued to yell at the officer, he was warned about his “tumultuous” behavior and was later arrested, according to the report.

Yet an account of the events released last night by Gates’s attorney, Harvard professor Charles Ogletree, presents a different picture and doesn’t mention any accusations of racism.

Gates contends he returned home from a trip to China to find his front door damaged. So he went in through the back door, turned off an alarm and got help from his driver to force open the front door. He claims when police arrived, he identified himself properly but the officer initially didn’t do the same.