Cop's version of events still makes him look like douche

Msnbc has offered the rebuttal to Dr. Gates' account of events on the night the respected Harvard professor (and physically enfeebled short guy) was arrested for disorderly conduct after calling police officers racist when they harassed him in his own home. Lets see what the arresting officer has to say.

Responding to the call, Crowley said he encountered Gates at his front door. “I asked him if he would step outside and speak with me, and he said, ‘No, I will not,’ and again words to the effect of ‘What's this about?’ ” Crowley said. “And I said, ‘I’m Sergeant Crowley from the Cambridge Police Department. I’m investigating a break-in in progress.’ And he responded, ‘Why? Because I’m a black man in America?’ in a very agitated tone, and again I thought that was a little strange.” Gates is 5-foot-7 and navigates with the aid of a cane, and Crowley said he did not fit the profile of a burglar. “His appearance did lead me to believe maybe this wasn't your typical breaking-and-entering type person experience, however, that response from him was a little strange; uncommon in my experience,” Crowley said. [Source: msnbs.msn.com]

I'll be honest, as a "whitey", I was really hoping this wasn't going to end up being such an overt case of racism. I was really hoping that the officer might have some magical explanation as to why he harrassed and arrested an old black man in his New England home. But, sadly, no dice. Not one Goddamned thing the officer says there justifies arresting Gates. It's like if someone were to come to my house, bang on the door and tell me they were investigating mafia activity in the neighborhood. 'Why are you at my house?' I would ask 'Because I'm italian? What do you think all Italian people are in the mafia. Fuck you sir.' Except I would have slammed the door in his face. Even worse is that this has now become President Obama's headache as the Cambridge police department and assorted jackasses from around the country *cough* fox news *cough* are making a big deal out of the fact that, at his press conference on Wednesday (which was supposed to be about healthcare reform by the way) the president said that the police acted "stupidly". The minute the word left his lips, people around the country with more hysteria than brains collectively crapped their pants. They misquoted him and suggested that his comments were going to make it difficult for police to interract with minorities. Like we're all living in a real-life Do The Right Thing (I guess Obama is Radio Raheem, the cop is Salvatore, and I'm the asian guy that doesn't like mexicans in my convenience store...or something...I haven't seen the movie in a while).

Oh people, people, people. "Stupidly" does not mean "stupid" and, to be fair, burglars rarely answer the door mid-crime. Nor do they typically decorate crime scenes with photos of themselves. I always support the police, but COME ON, how can you argue that this is not fucking ridiculous?