Dr. Henry Louis Gates Arrested

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Originally Posted by KSig RC

Aren't you in law school? This really may have very little bearing on the case - it may influence views on the officer's credibility, but if you know anything at all about witness credibility, you'd realize cops . . . have it. Implicitly. I'm not certain the "legal" ramifications of not giving your badge number include "throwing out the case" in this situation - are you?



Notice you left out "tumultuous" . . . is there a reason for that? Are you sure that a man yelling at a cop in his front yard causes no alarm?

Additionally, words can certainly escalate to the point where these definitions could be met. You're just saying "they didn't" without any real support is unconvincing.



You're not "saying" that - you're "showing" that, in every thread. You've never taken anything but a contrarian stance against those who bring up anything to suggest an incident might not have the explicit racial overtones you give it.

Tumultuous was not left out on purpose. That was an oversight on my part. And to answer your question, I don't think his behavior was cause for alarm. I have seen far worse behavior from individuals who were in the presence of cops, and they were not arrested. The cop went overboard and now his refusals to apologize are making him look even more suspect. as an officer of the law he should be held to a higher standard. At the very least he could apologize and be the bigger person. That would go a long way towards helping his case. since he is some kind of instructor on racial profiling his apology could simply be that he did not make Dr. Gates feel as though he was the victim of racial profiling, and that he simply was responding to a call. Doing that would not kill him. Instead he is continuing to be a bit of a jerk about it. This shows a complete lack of sensitivity.

As for your question about the cop ID information, I did not mean for you to interpret my statement as saying that was the reason it was thrown out. My point was that they not only threw the case out because they couldn't maintain the charge, but also because they were hoping to avoid having him file a complaint because the officer did not comply with his request.


Finally, while words CAN escalate to the point where those "requirements" are met, the key word is CAN. There is still nothing to indicate that this is what happened. Despite the fact that there are hundreds of accounts of what happened, the fact remains is that the only thing they have been able to say was that Dr. Gates repeatedly asked for the officer's information and was angry. He didn't hit anyone, he didn't swing at anyone, and he didn't do anything that they could point to that created a hazardous environment.