Cop Who Arrested Gates Not Ruling Out Defamation Lawsuit

[Tiger Wench]

If he files suit, I will contribute to his legal fund.  Fuck Obama and fuck this academic elitist entitlement driven racist hate monger who shold have spent the day in jail, not just four hours.  He should have thanked the cops for checking into a report of someone breaking into his home, showed his id and been polite and considerate.  Since he didn't, well, fuck him.  I hope the cops sues the shit out of him and Obama too.  Good on the cop for refusing to apologize too - enough of this shit!!  Working in Cambridge he probably gets the whole "Do you know who I am?" thing from those fucking liberal pseudo academic elitists all the damn time.  Good for him for finally saying ENOUGH!!!  It's Harvard, not the center of the universe.

The White House today said that President Obama "regrets" the furor his remarks on the arrest of his friend Henry Louis Gates Jr. have caused, as the lawyer for the cop who arrested the black Harvard University professor said the officer may sue Gates for defamation.

"I think he would regret if he realized how much of a overall distraction and obsession it would be," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters.

When asked if the president would apologize to the officer, as some police unions have demanded, Gibbs would only say that the president understands that the job police officers do is hard and that he has great respect for them.

Gibbs added that he did not expect Obama to have anything else to say about the incident.

"I think he's said most of what he's going to say on it," Gibbs said.

Alan McDonald, who represents Sgt. James Crowley, said the veteran cop who teaches a racial profiling class for rookie police officers has not ruled out filing a defamation of character or libel lawsuit.

"He is exploring all of his options,'' McDonald told ABC News.

Though charges were dropped, Gates has loudly asserted his arrest was a result of racial profiling.

The arrest and subsequent storm of racially charged comments has enveloped the White House after Obama said on Wednesday the Cambridge police acted "stupidly" in arresting his friend, Gates, who is a prominent black scholar.

Police organizations and others across the country are lashing out at Obama for calling out the Cambridge Police Department.

"It's not a case of racial profiling," said NPR analyst Juan Williams on "Good Morning America."

Williams made clear there are dangers when blacks are confronted by police. "As someone who has been stopped, as a black person in America, I have a very deferential approach to cops. I don't speak to them in aggressive tones. ... It's just that cops can be very prickly, especially with a black guy."



But Williams said the president went "way too far" without seeing the police report and knowing all the specifics of the case, as Obama himself admitted.

"I think what he now has to do is walk it back and say, you know what, I spoke out of turn here. ... I was reacting in support of a friend, and aware of larger racial issues in society. But it doesn't specifically apply to this case, which is not about racial profiling," Williams advised.

Sgt. Dennis O'Connor, the president of the police union that represents Crowley and other superior officers in the Cambridge Police Department, told ABC News that Gates' arrest was "100 percent lawful" and that Obama should apologize to "Sgt. Crowley and all Cambridge police officers."

"Sgt. Crowley has been called a racist, a liar and stupid,'' O'Connor said in an interview with ABC News. "Barack Obama just devastated the morale of the Cambridge Police Department. There are a lot of disheartened police officers out there. The remark was completely uncalled for. Sgt. Crowley -- and the entire Cambridge police force -- are owed an apology."

In an exclusive interview with ABC News' Terry Moran Thursday, the president defended his comments, stressing that "cooler heads should have prevailed."

"I have to say I am surprised by the controversy surrounding my statement, because I think it was a pretty straightforward commentary that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane, who's in his own home," Obama said.

During his news conference Wednesday night that was dominated by health care issues, the president, acknowledging that he did not know all the facts of the case and what role race may have played, said "the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home."

The president told ABC News that it doesn't make sense to him that the situation escalated to the point that Gates was arrested.

"I think that I have extraordinary respect for the difficulties of the job that police officers do," the president said. "And my suspicion is that words were exchanged between the police officer and Mr. Gates and that everybody should have just settled down and cooler heads should have prevailed. That's my suspicion."

Today, the Cambridge police unions and Massachusetts Municipal Police Officers Association, which represents police officers from 25 Massachusetts cities and towns, are holding a press conference to "voice their support for their fellow officers, and to express criticism for President Obama and Governor [Deval] Patrick," McDonald said.


Some Question Whether Obama Should Have Strongly Backed Gates
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who called Gates a friend, would not comment on the president's remarks.

"I was not there, and the words I would use are troubling and upsetting," he told reporters Thursday.

But he did say that he was glad the charges were dropped and that Gates' arrest was "every black man's nightmare."

"I guess you ought to be able to raise your voice in your own house without risking arrest," Deval said.

Police organizations rallied behind the officer yesterday, with The International Association of Chiefs of Police saying it was "disappointed" by how the president characterized the police.

Even actor Bill Cosby weighed in on the debate, telling Boston's WZLX yesterday that he was "shocked" to hear the president's statement.

Crowley made it clear he is not apologizing. He told Boston's WEEI Radio that he regrets putting the city and police department "in a position where they now have to defend something like this," but he stood behind his claim that he simply tried to resolve the situation.

"I just have nothing to apologize for," he said. "It will never happen."


Did Obama Go Too Far With Race Remark?
Obama's remarks have stirred national debate over whether Gates' arrest was an issue of racial profiling, as he himself asserted.

Some say the president was right to bring up this discussion in a primetime speech.

"Have some people wanted him to bring this up sooner?" asked civil rights activist, the Rev. Al Sharpton. "Of course, we have. But the timing had to be right. He had the courage to take a position at a time when he knows some people will disagree."

"If he hadn't addressed it, it would have looked like he was ducking. I was surprised he said what he said, because his words brought the conversation to a new level," Sharpton said.

Although Obama has been vocal on past civil rights issues, he largely avoided race during the presidential campaign except for a singular speech he gave on the issue after his pastor was found to have made anti-American statements.

"No one wants to talk about race," said Donna Brazile, a Democratic strategist and ABC News consultant. "He [Obama] does not inject race into the conversation regularly because it clears the room. There are designated times, like Martin Luther King Jr. Day or when we have a large gathering of black folks, like at the NAACP recently, but that's about it."

"In this case, he was asked a question directly, and he answered it honestly," she added.

In addition to his specific comments about Gates' arrest, the president Wednesday also weighed in about the race issue, saying that while he didn't know whether it played a role, "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. That's just a fact."

Some observers questioned whether the president should have so strongly backed Gates, a longtime friend, over the police who arrested him without fully knowing exactly what took place between the professor and Crowley.

"Obama is the president for all American not just black Americans," Brazile said. "He has enough on his plate as commander in chief -- two wars, an economy in the tank -- that he should not necessarily become the healer in chief."

[RWS]

Our officers are pretty pissed off about this as well. Have you read part of the report narrative that has been floating around? The guy asked to go to jail from the second the officer spoke to him basically. Had it been a white guy he would have gone to jail just the same. The cops get a report of a guy shoving his way into a door. Then when they get on scene the man refuses to come out of the residence and then refuses to identify himself when the officer then walks in the residence, and then becomes unruly. Doesn't matter whether he is black, white, Asian, Cuban, purple, or space alien. You will go to jail. The guy didn't even get arrested until the officer had told him he was now leaving and walkin twards his car, and the guy decided to follow the officer to his car and yell at him the whole way. Officer warned him twice he was disorderly and would be arrested if he did not cease.

I'm so fucking sick about everything being made into a race issue. Maybe the guy is just old, or maybe he just feels empowered because he is a friend of Obama. I don't really know. But it wasn't a race issue until HE and Obama made it into one. Obama needs to RTFM on this whole president gig. George W had his downfalls as well, but damn.

[Saniflush]

So things have gotten so thin at the NAACP that this is the stretch they have made in race baiting.  Sad.

Let's just forget that the police EVERYTHING right.  How much more diversity did they want in arresting officers?  One black, one white, one Latino.  I guess they should have waited until the Eskimo came on duty.  What an absolute joke.  Again.

[RWS]

So things have gotten so thin at the NAACP that this is the stretch they have made in race baiting.  Sad.

Let's just forget that the police EVERYTHING right.  How much more diversity did they want in arresting officers?  One black, one white, one Latino.  I guess they should have waited until the Eskimo came on duty.  What an absolute joke.  Again.

Yeah, I guess our officers' opinions shouldn't count either since we are an all white with only 1 female officer department. I mean really, its like we're heading back to the 1960's again. I think this guy made a big deal because he is a personal friend of Obama and apparently hasn't realized that The One isn't looking so great in the eye of the public anymore. Like you said, they get a call of somebody breaking into a house, they go to the house and some guy is inside refusing to come out of identify himself. What the fuck are they supposed to do? Everything went down the way it should have. Hey, since Obama wants to get into running car companies and other shit that he doesn't know a thing about, I guess its not all that far off base for him to talk about being the police and what they should and shouldn't do.

[Townhallsavoy]

What exactly did Obama say/do in this case?

The president should NEVER get involved in individual citizens' problems.  The job of the president is to keep the whole country secure and make executive decisions that enable our WHOLE country to be successful. 

[Saniflush]

What exactly did Obama say/do in this case?

The president should NEVER get involved in individual citizens' problems.  The job of the president is to keep the whole country secure and make executive decisions that enable our WHOLE country to be successful. 

He said the Cambridge police "acted stupidly".

How dare you all start getting our benevolent leader worked up!

[Townhallsavoy]

He said the Cambridge police "acted stupidly".

How dare you all start getting our benevolent leader worked up!

This is borderline absurdity.  The president of the United States has involved himself in a petty police issue?

This is more on his PR secretary than anything.  What the hell were doing allowing him to say anything publically about the situation?

[RWS]

This is borderline absurdity.  The president of the United States has involved himself in a petty police issue?

This is more on his PR secretary than anything.  What the hell were doing allowing him to say anything publically about the situation?

Mr. Gates is a personal friend of Obama.

[Saniflush]

Mr. Gates is a personal friend of Obama.

They were community activists together.

[Townhallsavoy]

They were community activists together.

Mr. Gates is a personal friend of Obama.

Don't care, don't care.  If Obama had to say anything, he should have something to the effects of:

"I hope that this is looked into carefully, and I'm confident that our justice system will determine the proper consequences in this situation.  That's all I have to say about that." 

[DnATL]

they should have tasered him

[Tiger Wench]

they should have tasered him

I agree, but the Secret Service probably would have taken issue with that...

[Tiger Wench]

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — A black police officer who was at Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s home when the black Harvard scholar was arrested says he fully supports how his white fellow officer handled the situation.

Sgt. Leon Lashley says Gates was probably tired and surprised when Sgt. James Crowley demanded identification from him as officers investigated a report of a burglary. Lashley says Gates' reaction to Crowley was "a little bit stranger than it should have been."

Asked if Gates should have been arrested, Lashley said supported Crowley "100 percent."

Gates has said he was the victim of racial profiling.

AND.............

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama backed down on Friday from a statement that police had "acted stupidly" in arresting a black scholar in a racially charged case that was rapidly becoming a distraction for Obama.

The president made a surprise appearance in the White House press briefing room shortly after he spoke by phone to Cambridge, Massachusetts, police Sgt. James Crowley, who had arrested Henry Louis Gates, a prominent scholar of African-American studies at Harvard, last week.

"Because this has been ratcheting up and I obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up, I wanted to make clear in my choice of words I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sgt. Crowley specifically," Obama said. "And I could have calibrated those words differently." WTF does THAT mean?  Calibrate?  Just say you fucked up and be done with it.  
Crowley suggested Obama invite him and Gates, to the White House for a peace-making beer, and a plan was in the works to do so, Obama said.

Obama later called Gates, had a positive discussion, told him about his phone call with Crowley and invited him to join Crowley at the White House in the near future, the White House said.

The case quickly became a media frenzy, with Cambridge police in an uproar, Gates accusing Crowley of racist behavior and threatening a lawsuit.

For Obama, who took office as the first U.S. black president in January. the incident was a distraction when his signature legislative priority, a healthcare overhaul, was stalling in the U.S. Congress.

Obama said he hoped the event would end up being a "teachable moment, where all of us instead of pumping up the volume spend a little more time listening to each other" and improve race relations "instead of flinging accusations."  Excuse me?  WHO flung accusations other than Prezbo and the race pimp?"Lord knows we need it right now -- because over the last two days as we've discussed this issue, I don't know if you've noticed, but nobody has been paying much attention to health care," he said.

[AUTailgatingRules]

This is borderline absurdity.  The president of the United States has involved himself in a petty police issue?

This is more on his PR secretary than anything.  What the hell were doing allowing him to say anything publically about the situation?

This is an example of the One getting off teleprompter and showing his true colors.  I wish the world would see this iidiot for what he is, a "Manchurian Candidate"

[Godfather]

This is an example of the One getting off teleprompter and showing his true colors.  I wish the world would see this iidiot for what he is, a "Manchurian Candidate"

So Obama is really this guy in disguise ....it all makes sense now!

[Snaggletiger]

The world needs more taser.

[Saniflush]

The world needs more taserint.

There

[DnATL]

There

I say the world needs more tis, not more taint.  I'm an optimist like that.