sophiaserpentia (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sophiaserpentia) wrote2009-07-23 01:47 pm
sophiaserpentia) wrote2009-07-23 01:47 pm
Entry tags:
(no subject)
I assume by now most of you have probably heard about the arrest last week of a Harvard professor on his front doorstep for being "disorderly." This incident happened about a five minute walk away from where I work.
While the police were called ostensibly because "two Black men with backpacks" were seen trying to force their way into a house, the arrest happened well after it was established that Professor Gates was not a burglar but the actual resident of the house, and that the other person with him had been an assistant. The police report, filed later, described Gates as being confrontational, yelling at the police over and over that they were racist. The police officer then led him out of his house onto the front porch, where he claims Professor Gates's yelling was disturbing and shocking people so much he had no choice but to arrest him for being disorderly.
Never mind that what was causing the disturbance was the continued and at that point completely unnecessary presence of police on the scene. It wasn't that Professor Gates was being disorderly and *then* the police came along to defuse the situation; he was "disorderly" because he was having a bad day and the police, by not leaving when their job was done, were making it worse. Their continued presence was the sole antagonist. If the police had left after Gates's identity was established, there would have been no more yelling; the tension would have been de-escalated.
So what it boils down to is, Professor Gates was arrested plainly and simply for not being properly cowed and obedient, and for no other reason. The charges against him have been dropped, but, notably, the arresting officer is completely unrepentant.
While the police were called ostensibly because "two Black men with backpacks" were seen trying to force their way into a house, the arrest happened well after it was established that Professor Gates was not a burglar but the actual resident of the house, and that the other person with him had been an assistant. The police report, filed later, described Gates as being confrontational, yelling at the police over and over that they were racist. The police officer then led him out of his house onto the front porch, where he claims Professor Gates's yelling was disturbing and shocking people so much he had no choice but to arrest him for being disorderly.
Never mind that what was causing the disturbance was the continued and at that point completely unnecessary presence of police on the scene. It wasn't that Professor Gates was being disorderly and *then* the police came along to defuse the situation; he was "disorderly" because he was having a bad day and the police, by not leaving when their job was done, were making it worse. Their continued presence was the sole antagonist. If the police had left after Gates's identity was established, there would have been no more yelling; the tension would have been de-escalated.
So what it boils down to is, Professor Gates was arrested plainly and simply for not being properly cowed and obedient, and for no other reason. The charges against him have been dropped, but, notably, the arresting officer is completely unrepentant.