Cop who arrested Harvard prof was a racial profiling expert; Obama stands by criticism
This from WBZ-TV in Boston is one of the better accounts (plus video links) today:
The white police sergeant who arrested black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. said Thursday President Barack Obama was “way off base” claiming Cambridge officers acted “stupidly” during the incident.
Sgt. James Crowley, who is a police academy expert on racial profiling, responded to Gates’ home near Harvard University last week to investigate a report of a burglary and demanded Gates show him identification. Police say Gates at first refused and accused the officer of racism.
Gates was charged with disorderly conduct. The charge was dropped Tuesday, and Gates has since demanded an apology from Crowley.
“I acted appropriately,” Crowley told WBZ Radio’s Carl Stevens Thursday.
“Mister Gates was given plenty of opportunities to stop what he was doing. He didn’t. He acted very irrational he controlled the outcome of that event.”
Here’s today’s Washington Post follow-up on Obama’s comments, made at the tail end of a Wednesday evening press conference:
President Obama stood by his criticism of the Cambridge police department’s arrest of Harvard University Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr., telling ABC News’s Terry Moran he was “surprised” by the controversy sparked by his comment during a prime-time news conference Wednesday that the department had behaved “stupidly.”
“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 told Moran in an interview set to air Thursday evening on “Nightline,” excerpts from which were made available online.
The president called arresting officer Sgt. James Crowley an “outstanding police officer” but emphasized that “it doesn’t make sense to arrest a guy in his own home if he’s not causing a serious disturbance.”
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193 comments Add your comment
oh yeah
July 24th, 2009
10:44 am
brenda
July 24th, 2009
10:47 am
1) President Obama and the rest of us were not there so we don’t know what happened. 2)I am a black female from Chicago and if the cops were not called we would have complained or said they were too slow to respond. Did anyone take notice that there was another black cop shown in the arrest picture? Do you think he would have allowed the Professor to be manhandled in his presence? The President should have not commented since he does not know the facts like the rest of us. Professor, Doctors or any other professionals are capable of getting angry and saying the wrong things.
johnatl
July 24th, 2009
10:50 am
Everybody needs to read the police report before commenting any further. There were multiple witnesses, including Harvard PD and additional Cambridge PD out on the street when the Prof was arrested on his porch, NOT in his living room. Read the police report, or STFU.
Tishana
July 24th, 2009
11:00 am
Yall a bunch of honkeys, Obama going to get me paid.
Hotlanta
July 24th, 2009
11:01 am
Is if funny how people think that race relations are okay when prior to the Gates incident the black kids got kicked outta a pool in Philly. Please where was the commentators/blowhards when Zell Miller said that Obama needs to use “Gorilla Glue” to stay at home knowing full well that black folks are compared to monkeys and he was in Ghana now everyone panties is in a wad because Obama used a word they don’t understand. Why did he ask for backup when no crime was commented. You can yell at a cop and ask for his badge. So Gates can’t yell at the cops and Obama can’t comment but this America where we have freedom of speech. I am glad Gates white wife didn’t come downstairs he would have gotten shot because the cop would have really thought he was robbing the home or raping her. But Brother Gates that is what you get for wanting to be a white neighborhood thinking that it can’t happen to you. I could see if the cops approached them while he was banging on the door or at the back window but was in his home. There was no crime committed.
JDB
July 24th, 2009
11:02 am
Hotlanta,
Please test your point right now. Go outside, find a cop and yell at him and ask for his badge. Please let me know where you do it so I can come watch.
Odupia
July 24th, 2009
11:04 am
Yes we can!!! We still work at Wal-Mart and smash and grab lenox mall.
kclubmember
July 24th, 2009
11:30 am
I think racial profiling is clearly the issue here because Dr.Gates and the driver were two Black men in a mostly white neighborhood entering a home.According to the facts,Dr.Gates submitted two pieces of picture ID to the Cambridge Police,and asked Sgt.Crowley for his name and badge number.Crowley refused,asked Gates to step outside,and then the situation became a “police” matter.Dr.Gates was arrested,booked,fingerprinted,and photographed because Sgt.Crowley’s ego and pride wouldn’t allow to admit that the police made a mistake.
Sabby the Runner Girl
July 24th, 2009
11:31 am
I. What kind of sad neighbor/neighborhood does someone have to have that they don’t recognize you when you’re trying to break into your own house?
Man, last year I locked myself out of my house and I went around looking to see if I had left any windows unlocked. I found one, it was kind of high off the ground but it was unlocked. There was a small oak next to it. So I shimmied up the oak, worked the window open, started to crawl in…but and legs hanging out, shoulders and head in…when I heard…”Hey, Sabby, did you lock yourself out of your house?”
Twisted my head and it was neighbor across the street. He’d seen the commotion, thought it looked like me, took a second to walk outside and look closer, could tell it was me, and walked over to give me a hard time about it.
2. Do you people not know that two of the other cops who where there, responding to the 911 call were not white? One was black. The other Hispanic.
3. Since when did screaming and yelling on your own front porch fall under the legal definition of disorderly conduct in a public area?
4. Yeah, Obama should have not commented…other than to say he supports his friend and hopes to see this resolved soon.
5. Though, now we have some interesting dialogue up to talk about race and authority, both in combination and by them selves.
ABS
July 24th, 2009
12:08 pm
…starting to think that black folks don’t want to be treated equal afterall. They want to be treated special.
Will Jones = Stupid Idiot Socialist
July 24th, 2009
12:49 pm
Blacks are to america as poop is to a diaper. It is time for a change, Impeach Obama.
lovelyliz
July 24th, 2009
2:07 pm
Since when did it become criminal to question why someone who was uninvited was in your homme with no warrant and when no crime had been comiitted?
Just wondering
lovelyliz
July 24th, 2009
2:28 pm
JDB
The point is that thsi man was in his home, on his property and no crime was bein cimmitted. Once that had been established, proper procedure would have bee for the police officers to leave and to go on to the next report.
There must not be much crime up there if cops have the time to arrest people in their own home when there is no criminal activity.
Cornelius1
July 24th, 2009
2:34 pm
I listened to President OBAMA say what he said and I initially thought he could have avoided that. But with all the hate talk going on in the comments here, I now believe the President was right to say the truth. Many of us are still living in hatred of other people’s race and color. We must forgo our prejudices. Officer Cowley should have left once the poor prof showed his ID. To then put handcuffs on him I think was STUPID. Officer Cowley was more interested in his EGO than the overall implication of his actions. As a profiling expert I’m sure he knew something would burst open and it has. He must take the stupid comment and retire with it.
ATLNative
July 24th, 2009
2:48 pm
If you read the police report… Gates was yelling at the officer, calling him a racist, saying “YOU DON”T KNOW WHO YOU’RE MESSING WITH!”, and blatantly refusing to produce ID (which is illegal) before it was discovered he actually lived there. A sensible, educated person (which it should be assumed that Gates is – since he teaches at “Hah-vahd”) would have said “officer, there’s been a mistake and I can clarify it.”
You can pretty much say anything you want to a cop, as long as you don’t raise your voice, make threats, refuse to produce ID or resist arrest. Gates was 2.5/4 – I’m sure had it continued, he would have threatened the officer’s job because he’s tight with PresBO.
Also, dropping the charges is not an admission of making a mistake… often people arrested for public intoxication are taken in, put in a holding cell where they aren’t a threat to themselves or others, and released the following morning. Gates was drunk on power and hubris – he needed time to cool off and it’s a shame he hasn’t.
ATLNative
July 24th, 2009
2:50 pm
…and he wasn’t on “his property”. It was LEASED to him from Harvard – which is why Ofc. Crowley called Harvard PD to assist and verify. The ID was a Harvard ID – and most school ID’s don’t have an address.
lacihian
July 24th, 2009
3:03 pm
After reading the posts I am more convinced than ever, that a much needed discussion on race has to take place. But, like that one last thing in relationships that keep people from being able to be true about what they think or feel, we avoid the issue until moments such as this.
Perhaps, just perhaps, mind you, there was not a racist intent in the cops actions that may have had racists overtones. Many times we are not as aware as we think we are of what we putting out to others that can make a bad situation worse. And perhaps, just perhaps mind you, Dr. Gates read more into what was being asked by the police officer. Nonetheless, I think the whole situation could have been handled differently, and in a manner that left both men with a great degree of respect.
The biggest thing that this all illustrates is that we have more to learn to understanding each other than we care to admit. If we cannot talk sensibly about race, which is the last barrier that we have to address to make us a great nation, then like all relationships that once had promise and failed, ours, American society, will fail too.
By the way, I am a Black Male, ex cop, who teaches sociology, political science, and criminal justice at a community college.
Amicus
July 24th, 2009
3:05 pm
my mama said that stupid is as stupid does. It’s a shoe that fits tightly on the cops feet. But we have a military state mentality that says it’s better to be tried by 12 than carried by6. Collateral loss is expected.
Eric in Atlanta
July 24th, 2009
3:26 pm
Playing the Race Card is the only Racism, in this story, the first person to speak race was Professor Gates (in this conflict), he screamed obsene remarks at the police officer and racial remarks, besides insulting the officers Mother. I guess with Obama President every non black police officer has to now be verbally abused by anyone using the race card as an excuse.
Louis TEXAS
July 24th, 2009
3:45 pm
That’s what you got when voitng for a niggro, WHITE POWER!! kukux Urra!! kukux urrAAA!! Kukux URRAAA!!!
J-rock
July 24th, 2009
4:25 pm
This is reverse racisism plain and simple. Have you even seen a picture of Henry Gates jr. he looks like a smug old man that would pull out the racial discrimination card as soon as he got the chance. Read the Quotes he made to officer Crowley when he kindly asked for Gates identification. All of what officer Crowley said happened was corroborted By the other officer (An african american officer I might add). Black or white, Gates was out of line and at the least deserved a citation for being a jerk!!!!
The REAL GodHatesTrash, Superstar
July 24th, 2009
5:42 pm
Please. This clown is a beat cop.
Saying that makes him an expert on racial profiling is like saying Joe the effing Plumber is an expert on civil engineering.
Now, if they said he was an expert on scrounging donuts, finding hiding places to sleep off his shift, or shaking down small businesses in the neighborhood, that I could believe.
The REAL GodHatesTrash, Superstar
July 24th, 2009
5:44 pm
Too damn dumb for Harvard, or any other 4 year school, Crowley goes to the Police Academy.
Now he’s a big man.
Not.
Mr. Wizard
July 24th, 2009
6:03 pm
It is science, white people are just superior to black people. Research has been done and it is a scientific fact. Black people ruin everything they get their hands on – hell, look at what they have done to the english language. I’m just glad that they don’t have the brain capacity to really do much damage in the scientific community. Thank goodness for that. It is also a scientific fact, that blacks are the most racist people on earth or erff as they would call it. God bless.
twistedhick
July 24th, 2009
6:29 pm
the only bigotry is that the blacks use the race card when ever it suits them. it’s not a black or white thing its a cop or not thing
bixby
July 24th, 2009
6:43 pm
I find it extremely interesting that this is news in the first place. Yet again, all the evidence I need that nothing about our current climate is post-race, post-racist, post-racial or post-anything. If the roles were reversed, no one would have called the police in the first place. And if Prof. Gates wasn’t a member of the Black “Intelligentsia”–or someone with a little more visibility–he’d likely be dead on top of arrested. But here is a man with more means than most in the Black community, being profiled–not so much by the police–but by someone who’s supposed to be his neighbor. Why? Because in all truth and honesty, that neighbor isn’t quite psychologically prepared to handle a Black man with more means than most in their neighborhood. It speaks to the power of class privilege, and it DEFINITELY speaks to the power of white-skin privilege. The police response was a stupid response (hopefully that adjective is understood to be modifying “response” not “police”), but I do believe that response is to be expected when agents of the state are trained to respond with heightened sensitivity to skin that isn’t white.
Rachel
July 24th, 2009
6:58 pm
I am glad to see so many people talking about this issue. It is important. I am with the majority the “President” should not have stuck his nose in this one. Doesn’t he had more important things to do like keep his word on all of the inflated promises he made? I thought he was for small business and education?! That’s funny, I just got laid off today from a large not for profit daycare because most of our funding in Ohio for the program was re-allocated! Why isn’t he working on protecting children like he promised? That’s where my focus would be
wow
July 24th, 2009
7:14 pm
Wow what I Have read thru many of these comments Is ,even if you disagree with the president ,professor or even the officer that when we disagree with each other you see the worst of people .So many sacrafices from blacks,hispanics,and whites to bring unity and love in are country we resort back to are hateful ways ,That hurts me to see the worst in the brotherhood we call the human race!!!
lacaillouet
July 24th, 2009
8:10 pm
the times piayune new orleans newspaper is a good paper but don’t call a black with a black attitude an idiot at that site. you can call george bush anything you want and if you are black…all the better but just don’t call that wonderful racist of a president a racist or they’ll show you the door
Alistair Skeffington
July 24th, 2009
8:42 pm
Well, if Gates had any Cynthia McKinney in him, he would have spoken when it was her turn. How do you work somewhere for 12 years and the guys who’s job is to recognize you can’t. Like Gates, they could not prosecute. With cameras everywhere on the Hill, that tape would have made the six oclock news. Gates and others will pay the price of remainig silent and inept when injustice is done. White law enforcement officers and their non white colleagues behave like this because they know that at the end they can get away with it.
If Gates did something wrong, broke the law, why did they dropped the charges? Crowley did what most cops do when they pull over non whites, when they don’t find anything wrong, they harass you until you do or say something wrong. Perhaps Crowley is an expert in Racial Profiling because that what he does best. I dont care what credentials he wants to produce, we do not know what is in Crowley’s heart. For security sake, I always assume that there is that sleeping racist cell somewhere waiting to emerge in all white cops. I was pulled over on I-20 near Madison, the officer checked everything and everything was in order, he made me stand by the highway for 45 minutes before he finally gave me my license back. Like Gov. Deval said, what happened to Gates is every black man’s nightmare. Crowley could have shot him in his own home and said that he thought the cane was a weapon. All of you would say exactly what you are saying now, he followed procedures. Did we all forget what happened to the elderly black lady in Atlanta? Eric Holder need to investigate all police departments where the statistics said it all. For example, Gwinnett County Georgia is almost 88% white, yet the prison population is almost 86% non white. Are we to believe that 86% of the 12% non white are criminals? What is seen by a cop as youthful indiscredtion for a young white male will written up as a felony for others. If you are white and enjoying your “color priviledges” these numbers wont mean a thing to you.
He_Tased_Me_Bro
July 24th, 2009
10:20 pm
Perhaps Sgt Crowley should have tased sorry butt Gates to quieten him down from his childish, racist rage of yelling as soon as the door was opened and being told by Sgt Crowley he was there to investigate a break in and Gates screaming, “Why because I’m a black in man in America”? What a lowdown scum of the earth idiot racist thing to do. He should have shown respect for the officer as a human being. If I’d been Sgt Crowley I’d probably done alot more than handcuff this piece of crap.
old bag
July 24th, 2009
10:32 pm
I’m not a cop fan, and have experienced both good and bad, but the bad ones are ones that are best remembered, because it is the type you learn the most from, and acquire the proper attitude to assume when in their presence. You never know which you may find yourself stuck with, and never forget who is in charge, because it most likely won’t be you.
I don’t believe racism was at all involved here, but rather a power play play between two males who both believed themselves to right. The cop was totally correct in going into the house on a 911 call of a break-in in progress, and he had every right- no- make that his responsibility – to establish with certainty who did or did not belong in that house. The so called elderly man- who at 58, most would not consider elderly, had an attitude, though not necessarily that of black being profiled, but a man who considered himself to be superior to the intrusive police officer, whom he considered to be a lower intelligent being than himself. Gates appears to me to be an elitist, as does Obama, who had no business getting into this situation. If the president is unable to act presidential, he is in the wrong position.
Any truly intelligent person would have immediately complied with whatever the officer wanted , instead thinking it was beneath him to comply with the man, who by law was entitled to the information he was requesting.
Obama, having “empathy” with the professor, not necessarily as two black men, but rather , two men of assumed superior intelligence, since they were both of Harvard extraction, called the cop’s actions stupid, and that “anybody would have been angry” at the intrusion in his own home, as did the professor.
I disagree,I think most rational people would have complied without anger, rather, be somewhat amused at being in such a silly misunderstanding, and even feel a bit thankful to have a neighbor who was concerned over the welfare of another neighbor.
Now why didn’t she recognize the professor? – well, perhaps her vision isn’t the greatest, and there is good chance she never saw him up close to recognize his features, and maybe two men with backpacks trying to shove a door open, just didn’t look quite right. When the call was made to the police she was probably asked for a description of whoever, and should she have said they were little green men to avoid sounding racist in her description of supposed intruders? If there had actually been a break -in, and they had got away, she would have been questioned for a full description – then what should she say? Getting upset over the fact it was reported two BLACK men were trying to break in is unrealistic, and definitely not racist but merely factual.
This should be a lesson to all potential good Samaritans – mind your own business. Let your neighbor fend for himself,for your well intentioned may cause him embarrassment or tarnish his good name. Should you see a robbery or break in in progress and feel the necessity of trying to help, check out the race of the intruders, then compare that with the race of whoever lives in the building. If they appear to not be of the same race, butt out or there may be a chance of racial profiling or mistaken identity. Heaven forbid it turn out to be another friend of Obama’s.
I have been pulled over for no apparent reason and detained by the police – I have been arrested and put in jail for something I didn’t do- I have been forced to take sobriety tests when I haven’t been drinking, and all this happened after I turned 50 years old. I am an ex-school teacher, white, blonde, and grandmother of 7 children. So- am I a victim of profiling? Must be because I’m a “privileged” white woman.
Will Jones - Atlanta
July 25th, 2009
4:34 am
Crowley comes from a clan of police officers in Massachusetts. Anyone who thinks he wasn’t having a little “fun” with Gates. without the slightest fear of demotion or losing his job, needs to watch “The Departed” again. If you think Scorcese “made it up,” google “Whitey Bulger FBI.”
Harvard and Rome and the Irish, and other Roman Catholic, Mafia run Cambridge, Boston, and America, the cops there are crooks.
It isn’t racist hicks who are sowing division on this blog. Roman operatives have a job to do: “Divide and Conquer.” Their employer is the identified Anti-Christ and good Americans – White, Black, Jew and Gentile – need to unite as we did in 1776 to rid Our Land of Tory treason once more.
Kimberly Wilder
July 25th, 2009
8:34 am
So, it sounds like a true moment of karma. The policemen was an expert on racial profiling. The professor was someone who studies racism.
But, as soon as there was conflict and disagreement, the policeman should have realized that he was the person holding a gun. So, if the professor expressed anger, confusion, or indignation at being confronted in his home, the policeman should have backed down.
The leaders, the public servants, the people holding a weapon, they are the ones who are supposed to be patient and find peaceful resolution in such charged situations.
Ray
July 25th, 2009
10:13 am
Like Ned in “The Rievers” observed….At some point the law stops and just people starts–William Faulkner.
Robert Irving
July 25th, 2009
10:20 am
What a waste of my vote giving it to Obama. I will not be such a fool the next election. This is if he is nor tossed out of office before then. He butted in where he had no business.Rojo.
theotis
July 25th, 2009
11:18 pm
First off where is the neigbor who call the police to Gate’s home. Did police talk with the caller prior to barging into Gate’s home?
And why are all these police organizations circling the wagons to protect a cop who looks eerily like Furman? Were they there? Do they hav all the facts before profiling the president of the United States? And legally what is disturbing the peace. Just something the cops can charge you with just because they don’t like you?
understanding black and white
July 26th, 2009
1:15 pm
Both men lost there cool and both should have just walk away. nothing gain nothing lost. one had the authority and used it be because he got piss at what gates said to him in his house. what do you think the odd gates would be lock up if he was white doing the same thing? This is a teachable moment for all!!! just because you have the power you don’t have to use it. some time it pays to be cool and just let it go even if it is in your own house! This happen every day in some form all across america UNDERSTING and being COOL !!!
My opinion
July 27th, 2009
10:16 am
Just as each of you have decided to voice your opinions regarding the incident that occurred, President Obama reserves the same right to speak on behalf of his friend. Do I believe the professor was angry and likely cursed the police? Yes, but that is certainly not relevant. Has the cop likely seem more crimes committed by black men than any other group of people? Yes, that is likely, but that is certainly not relevant.
My brother and I (black male and female) both drive Chevy Impalas. My brother is stopped almost weekly leaving work in a suburban, white neighborhood. Each time, his vehicle is searched, he is asked why he is in that neighborhood, and he is given some lame excuse about why he was stopped (e.g., your tag light is dim). I, on the other hand, am only stopped at night. I can specifically recall three occasions when police turned on their lights, as I was going a significant speed over the limit, began to pull out, caught eye contact with me, and settled back into their spaces once they saw me (I assume because I am a female and I don’t fit the profile of whom they’re seeking that day).
Prior to purchasing my Impala, I drove a Chevy Malibu, and I drove at least 20 miles per hour over the speed limit everywhere, and I was only stopped twice – once for going 95 MPH in a 70 MPH zone and once for going 63 in a 35 MPH zone. Three weeks after purchasing my Impala, I was stopped for traveling at 81 MPH in a 70 MPH zone and 45 MPH in a 35 MPH zone.
Anyway, I give those examples to say that even if the officer was not racist and did not arrest the professor for being black, please do not be ignorant to the fact that it DOES still exist.
mediamadeitracial
July 27th, 2009
12:04 pm
Ok. For everyone claiming Obama and Gates are racist,please leave that comment out of it. Gates made a comment based on how he was being treated. Officers only ask you to step out of the house because they are not allowed to enter unless you allow them.That means Gates must have started making volatile comments in his home before and after he provided i.d. They should have left and his comment about race is left up to the men that were involved in all of this,not the media or us. Second Obama’s comment if you listened carefully was concerning the procedure not the men. If they acted on what their procedure called for then the I do agree the procedure is stupid and not the men.Although no officer throughout their career follows procedure to the letter. Last time I checked as well no officer asks you to step out of your house when you have proven you live there.Like I said when they ask you that is to get you pass your threshold of your house because they cannot cross that boundary unless you allow them. The officer must have been upset by the comments but he should have kept his cool and left and not succumb to the profane remarks of the professor who had every right to say what he said even though he was wrong in my opinion for making them. When the media blows up stuff like this it creates more of divide between races when race should not be an issue because we are human beings and should all be brothers and sisters in Christ not divided by race and titles. The only thing that some of you are doing on here is proving that racism still exists and you are apart of it. Pray for the situation to end and don’t stir the pot.
Larry Reardon
July 28th, 2009
3:36 pm
I don’t know if 0bama’s stupid cop incident has blown over, but surely the discussion still rages on. Look: Barack is the President. He is not the mayor of Cambridge, or chief of police; he is the Commander in Chief, and if he decides to publicly chastize an officer who was acting out of order surely he has the authority to do so. He had the homeboy’s back. Surely as Americans that is something we understand. The sophistication we aspire to with regard’s to the so-called race issue has been addressed in any number of movies and TV programs. I’ve seen some of Mr. Gates work on TV and it’s at least deserving of a B+. Fine work. But if he wants to play the role of Samuel Jackson, acting up like, some irate Crack Ho on Cops, I have to scratch my head and wonder. The part with a cop with a background in race relations, I’m pretty sure I saw that in a movie. It’s like this swill of a discussion is: to borrow a line from the “Last Poets”-”a dress rehersal of things to come”, and not a very good one. I like to hear some discussion as to whether love, loyalty, or even friendship is an extremely potent, psychological amulet for advancing an idea that reparations are due, to the descendants of a conquered people. There: I said it. To me love, loyalty and friendship seem like reparation.
some get some don't
August 2nd, 2009
4:44 pm
The police is not GOD. Yes we should respect them, but they should respect the people to. Protect and serve… what does that mean? sometime because of all what happen today do the police and the people should take a step back and use reason.I help pay the Taxes that gives them there jobs. I don,t pay for them to profile me! most of us are out to help them not hurt them, but when some of the police see me does he see a person or thug? what run though there minds oh he look the part or do I have relly something to stop him or her for because I have that power! The police have a hard job and I know that but please don’t profile me I am not the one who is doing wrong when you see the shade on my face. I need your help but profiling me in not that help I need nor do you!!!
Roadwolf
August 8th, 2009
7:40 pm
The only person anyone can determine that was in the wrong for sure was Obama. What may or may not have happened between the professor and the officer we may never truely know. This is a case of nothing more than heresay and speculation. Unless Obama was actually there to witness the events of that night he had no right to speculate on the conduct of that particular officer. While I often find myself impressed with Obama this was nt his best moment. A person in a position of power should know not to cast judgements without absolute facts