Obama Says Cops Acted Stupidly in Harvard Scholar’s Arrest
President Obama departed from the topic of health care at his news conference last night to comment on the arrest of his friend, Harvard University scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Obama said police in Cambridge, Mass., “acted stupidly” when they handcuffed Gates, one of the nation’s top African-American scholars, after he showed identification proving he lived in his home. The Los Angeles Times and the Boston Globe are among the publications carrying the news.
Police had questioned Gates after a neighbor called to report that two men—Gates and his driver—were trying to force open the door, which had become stuck after a long trip. Police have said they arrested Gates for disorderly conduct because of his “loud and tumultuous” behavior during the incident. The charge has since been dropped.
Obama said he didn’t know all the facts, but he is aware that police treat minorities differently.
“I think it’s fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there’s a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately,’’ Obama said. “That’s just a fact.’’
“I am standing here as testimony to the progress that’s been made,” Obama said. “And yet the fact of the matter is, is that, you know, this still haunts us.”
“And even when there are honest misunderstandings, the fact that blacks and Hispanics are picked up more frequently and often time for no cause casts suspicion even when there is good cause. And that’s why I think the more that we’re working with local law enforcement to improve policing techniques … the safer everybody is going to be.’’
Gates is planning to make a documentary on the criminal justice system because of his experience. “I think that the criminal justice system is rotten,” he told the Washington Post.
