She made the call on behalf of a neighbor! So just apply what I said to the neighbor instead of to Whalen, if you like. I still think ANY reasonable, non-racist person who sees two old black men with backpacks, suitcases, and a cane…

who appears perfectly calm and poised on a 911 call where she mentions that she “isn't sure” whether the “gentlemen” “maybe had a problem with their key” IS NOT RESPONDING TO AN EMERGENCY, even in her own opinion.

I don't know everyone who works in the office buildings around mine. I DO know all my neighbors. But if I see someone repeatedly swiping a card to access a nearby building, and they have a lot of stuff they're trying to take INTO the building rather than haul out of it, I'd be a total jackass to call 911 on them. If they're Latino, then I'm sure there would be people who would reasonably argue that I must have a bias against Latinos. Until I argued otherwise, who could blame them?

Also she was not a 'neighbor' but worked in one of the nearby buildings owned by Harvard. She had only worked there for two months, much of which Gates had spent overseas. It's not reasonable to expect office workers to recognize the residents of all the houses around their office building – I sure don't.

Your neighbor, on the other hand, was a piece of work.

Whalen was one of several bystanders outside and all confirmed there was someone yelling inside the house.

This was all on the Greater Boston broadcast either July 26 or 27 (possibly the 28).

I do happen to think Sgt. Crowley probably overreacted and made an unnecessary arrest. But he seems to have been overreacting to someone who was out of control.

Gates lied about the yelling, that's for sure.

Whether Crowley falsified the report is debatable.

I used to have a lot of respect for Professor Gates. I worked for him and thought he was levelheaded, objective, and insightful. I liked his PBS programs etc.

And now I can't help but associate him with this immature crap.

Depending on how he handles himself after this…I'm going to have a hard time getting past this.

When you come back to Earth, let's talk about what really happened.

We all know that police officers have a mysterious effect on fleeing criminals. They all seem to drop the necessary evidence for an officer to make an arrest, when the officer chases them. For some reason, maybe it's the low-slung baggy jeans with MULTIPLE HUGE POCKETS, but we've seen the extraordinary tendency of young male drug dealers to be unable to hold on to their inventory, not even when said inventory is the size of a quarter.

We've seen the amazing consistency with which a criminal's actions as noted on a police report just perfectly correspond to the elements of the cause of action (crime) upon which the officer is basing the arrest.

But who in the world has ever heard of a dishonest police officer? Surely you jest.

Sorry, couldn't resist. I went to undergraduate school and law school at the north end of South-Central Los Angeles. I don't have an unbiased opinion of police officers, after observing the tactics employed by the Rampart Division, or experiencing first-hand how readily and unblinkingly cops can and do lie.

I totally agree with everything after your first sentence. I don't know whether Whalen went outside. But if she says she didn't and the report says she did, then in the words of Senator Jeff Sessions, Crowley's “got some 'splainin' to do.”

Don't you just wish that you could mouth off at a cop (Gates) or misuse your authority at work (Crowley) and then have the President fly you into town and drink a beer with you?

Where's the line to sign up for that?