Harvard Prof Gates Arrested Trying to Enter Own Home; Ogletree to Defend

Posted Jul 20, 2009 12:06 PM CST
By Martha Neil

Updated: Harvard University's Henry Louis Gates Jr. is facing a disorderly conduct charge, after being arrested by Cambridge police on Thursday while trying to enter his own locked home near the campus, according to Bloomberg and the Associated Press.

Gates, 58, is the director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. Police say they were called by a neighbor who reported seeing a man try to pry open the locked door of the home. When ordered to identify himself, Gates allegedly refused, called the officer a racist, and said "This is what happens to black men in America," the AP recounts.

A report on the police department's website says Gates was “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior,” reports Bloomberg. However, police officials declined to comment further, saying the case is under investigation by the Middlesex District Attorney, whose office didn't immediately return the news agency's phone calls.

Gates also declined to comment, referring calls to his legal counsel, Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree Jr., the AP reports. Ogletree didn't immediately respond to the news agency's request for comment.

The Harvard Crimson broke the story.

As discussed in a subsequent ABAJournal.com post, authorities have announced that the case against Gates will be dropped.

Updated on May 21 to reference subsequent ABAJournal.com post.

Comments

NYC ADA
Jul 20, 2009 12:14 PM CST

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Absurd
Jul 20, 2009 12:26 PM CST

What Gates should have said.

“Officer I live here. Here is my drivers’ license with my address. I [was locked out/trying to unlock my door]. It must be a misunderstanding. Thank you for your quick response to a report of an alleged break in at my home. Good night.”

Next time the cops get a report a a break in at his address they should just ignore it and let the house get ransacked. No doubt the police will get a lawsuit for that as well, because they neglected to respond to the call, obviously because he was black…..perhaps Ogletree can come down from his ivory tower to be a plaintiff’s Attorney in that lawsuit as well?

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Patience
Jul 20, 2009 1:31 PM CST

The early narrative of this incident - presumably provided by the Cambridge PD - makes Gates look like an idiot. He is not an idiot - I would wait to hear the other side of this story before casting your stones.

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B. McLeod
Jul 20, 2009 1:38 PM CST

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tory
Jul 20, 2009 3:28 PM CST

I cannot say that I am a fan of the Cambridge PD after my 3 years living there! After only just arriving back from a year away on scholarship in Australia, I picked up my car from storage and was on my way back to my house in Cambridge at 2am on January 2. CPD stopped me for expired plates, refused to discuss, towed my car with all my stuff in it and left me to walk home in the snow from Central Cambridge to Porter Square. Complete Bastards, I would say. I was so broke then that I couldn’t get the car out of impound and half my stuff was gone when I finally did.

I remember BPD and CPD had some deal with Pat’s Tow where that company could snatch a car with impunity from anywhere and claim it was illegally parked. I got towed 4 times that way and the generous bastards at Pat’s Tow were so kind as to give me the 5th tow free! !^^@%£%!$ Boston, Cambridge & Metro Police were law enforcement nightmares back in the 1980’s! Don’t know about now, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they are up to the same old shenanigans!

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John
Jul 20, 2009 4:34 PM CST

Perhaps he should have just handed the officers his license. On the other hand, perhaps the officer’s could have asked him for it in a nicer way than they likely did.

Who knows what words flew. Having witnessed police stops in the past, and worked on defense cases of them, I have no doubt the officers were less than courteous.

Does not excuse the Prof’s actions, but doesn’t mean the police are innocent.

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NYC ADA
Jul 21, 2009 5:39 AM CST

Patience: Why is it “presumably” the CPD who provided the account? It sounds like a reasonable description of what happened when you look at the circumstances and the people involved.

Tory: Despite the hardship to you, the cops in your case followed the law. They could have given you a break, but they didn’t have to do so. You should have known better and followed the law, especially if you are a lawyer.

The fact is that there was a way to handle this situation in five minutes with no acrimony. This idiot instead chose to be belligerent, scream at the cops about racism, and got arrested for a DisCon. White, black, or pink with purple polka dots, screaming at cop is a DisCon. True, the cops have discretion and could have let him go with a warning, but why would they do a favor for someone who was disrespectful?

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Harvard07
Jul 21, 2009 9:39 AM CST

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B. McLeod
Jul 21, 2009 9:51 AM CST

In proper context, screaming at a cop may be a 1st Amendment right.

Update - Case dismissed!!!!

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10.

Dr Phun
Jul 21, 2009 10:51 AM CST

Why don’t you know your neighbors? Then when you need help, they come out and help you instead of calling the police on you.

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