From police accountability activist Mary Neal...
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
Police not "stupid" to arrest Prof. Gates or Sodomize Idaho Man with
Posted by: "Mary Neal" mneal000@... mneal000
Mon Jul 27, 2009 7:12 pm (PDT)
Police not "stupid" to arrest Prof. Gates or Sodomize Iaho Man with Taser - It is a matter of knowing your place - http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/1203750
Does anyone know why the police officer arrested Harvard professor, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., once he knew the man was at his own home and was not a burgular? Prof. Gates does not know either. He said in an Oprah Radio interview, "I don't know of anything I could have done to justify Sgt. Crawley's reaction." Hear Prof. Gates speak at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFhw_wIB4NY
What were the charges?* I only read that the professor got irate with the police. Reminded me of this lady - the great grandma who was tasered after refusing to sign a traffic ticket in Texas:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/06/raw-video-cop-tasers-72-year-old-granny/
At least the Harvard professor was not tasered. That's a plus for the officer.
It also brought to mind a youth director who was driving and stopped at a red light. An old friend noticed him and ran over to say hello. They traded a few words and shook hands. When the light changed, the teacher drove to his home. He was immediately accosted by officers who believed they had just witnessed a drug buy. The teacher, a rapper artist called "Wise Intelligent," allowed himself and his vehicle to be searched and did not mind knowing that police were working hard to keep his neighborhood drug-free. He teaches young people the importance of saying "no" to drugs, after all. The thing is that the police arrested him, anyway! I think they said he was irate, like the Harvard professor and the great grandma. He became "irate" when the officers still cited him for "assaulting the police" or something, even though that was a lie and they knew it. The story is here:
http://www.ballerstatus.com/2009/07/14/rapperactivist-wise-intelligent-falsely-arrested-in-new-jersey/
I recall the young man who almost became the first African American unarmed man killed by police in 2009 - the son of a retired pro football player who had a promising sports career planned for himself. Robbie Tolan lost that position of being the first one killed to Oscar Grant (who was shot in the back by B.A.R.T. officers). Tolan's bullet did not kill him, but merely hospitalized him. He and his cousin went to get snacks in the wee hours on New Year's morning, and police followed them back to their home and accused them of driving in a stolen vehicle. It was a nice vehicle and a nice neighborhood, like the Harvard professor - too nice for black people, apparently. Tolan and his family probably did not use a proper conciliatory tone of voice when the police were roughing them up in their front yard for having such a nice vehicle. I think Robbie Tolan and his family became "irate" when the police officer shove his mom against the
van for coming outside to see what the problem was: http://streetknowledge.wordpress.com/2009/01/09/baseball-players-son-shot-by-policeunarmed-and-in-his-driveway/
What is the exact charge for "irate" attitudes? Lots of people are being tasered and arrested for that these days, and in poor and minority neighborhoods, they are sometimes killed for it. Luckily, the elderly woman was white, and the Harvard professor, New Jersey teacher, and Texas ballplayer were obviously people of means. But if they had been poor people of color or mentally challenged citizens, they might have had a different outcome over their "irate" attitudes. They got off light. They could have wound up like 73-year-old Bernard Monroe in Louisiana - http://my.nowpublic.com/world/73-year-old-black-man-shot-and-killed-police-homer-la
So President Obama was wrong - it most certainly was not "stupid" for the policeman to arrest the Harvard professor for being at home. It seems to be standard police procedure across the nation. Ask any of the folks listed herein, with the exception of Mr. Monroe. He was at home, too, but he was no Harvard professor. So he is dead. They should all learn to do as my grandfather, an ex-slave, did throughout his life. He lived to be nearly 100, until the mid-40's. He always looked at the ground when addressing certain people and said "yassa." That's safer behavior when encountering people who have power and authority, like police officers, and no one could ever accuse him of being "irate."
Prof. Gates may not realize it, but he got off light. At least the police officer did not sodomize Prof. Gates with his Taser, like the Idaho man who did not want police officers at his home in February. Read the AP news report about it here: Idaho man sodomized by police Taser plans to sue” ...
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jnNgVpQqpNo__-jCHzb9eOYd53AgD99KF6PG4
At the time of the report, the officer who sodomized the citizen with his Taser was still on the job.
Consider the Phoenix blogger, Jeff Pataky, who failed to give police the proper respect. They raided his home, removed his computer and personal records while his female roommate was reportedly handcuffed for three hours during which time they ramsacked the place. See it here: http://my.nowpublic.com/tech-biz/bloggers-home-raided-phoenix-police-he-criticized-them
One thing is for sure - it is lucky for that Harvard professor that he did not have an accident and release gas during his "altercation" with the officer, like the Latino man, Jose Cruz, in this article. He was charged with BATTERY against the officer for passing gas in his vacinity. http://my.nowpublic.com/strange/man-charged-battery-passing-gas-near-police-officer
Maybe President Obama should speak with Attorney General Holder about the unwritten law against citizens having irate attitudes when addressing police officers, especially since some citizens get the death penalty for it at the scene of arrest. This is not confined to any particular race or age group, although the law against "irate" attitudes is enforced most harshly against young, black men. The irate Texas great-grandmother could have been killed by Taser, and she is white and elderly. I believe the Phoenix blogger is white, also. Everyone qualifies for an immediate attitude adjustment if they do not address police officers with the proper deference, including Harvard professors. If President Obama recognizes that these things should not happen, I hope he will continue to denounce them and ask Atty. Gen. Holder to talk with police officers about the difference between "irate" behavior and "criminal" conduct.
Police officers need frequent mental health evaluations. They encounter a good deal of stress on the job. Frequently, police officers are ex-military personnel, among whom there is a high incidence of PTSD. Officers may need additional vacation time or temporary transfer to a position that does not bring them into contact with people under distressful circumstances. Immediate drug and alcohol testing for officers should be done each time Tasers or gunfire is used against citizens.
Mentally ill persons are frequently arrested like Prof. Gates was for displaying less than complete subservience to police officers. Sometimes they react slower to demands. If mental patients are in a heightened state of mental agitation, they may disobey commands altogether. Therefore, they suffer arrests even when no real crime was committed. Some officers respond by Tasering the mentally ill and beating them during arrests because police are enraged at the lack of respect they receive, and the mentally ill provide a safe outlet for police frustration.
Consider this psychiatric patient's ordeal when told by police to zip his jacket. He had done no crime, but he was beaten and arrested, perhaps for responding slowly or saying something that offended the officer on a short fuse: RAW VIDEO http://www.1010wins.com/VIDEO--Police-Investigate-Passaic-Beating-Tape/4546752
Police Beating Caught on Tape - Harmless Schizophrenic Victim
US Politics & Gov't
Mary
abcnews.go.com
SEE THE VIDEO: A schizophrenic man attacked and beaten by police. Ronnie Holloway did no crime when Officer Rios of the Passaic, NJ Police Dept jumped from a cruiser and beat him. The other officer tried to stop the beating, but Officer Rios . . . .