Local incident becomes nationwide race issue.
Here are the police reports detailing the confrontation last weekbetween Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Cambridge cops,who were condemned last night by President Barack Obama for acting”stupidly” in arresting the African-American scholar.
Cops responded toGates’s house after neighbor Lucia Whalen reported spotting “two blackmales with backpacks” trying to gain entry to the home (Gates,returning home from a trip overseas, and his driver were contendingwith a stuck front door). The Cambridge Police Department reports,authored by Sergeant James Crowley and Officer James Figueroa, quote anincensed Gates yelling, “This is what happens to black men inAmerica!,” and, when asked by Crowley to speak with him outside theresidence, Gates replied, “ya, I’ll speak with your mama outside.”A disorderly conduct rap was filed against Gates, but quickly droppedby prosecutors. Gates is reportedly considering legal action againstthe Cambridge police.