(Lucia Whalen at Press Conference Today)
Well, it's evident that Sgt. James Crowley added salt to his police report and tried to throw the blame on Lucia Whalen who made the initial 911 that started Gatesgate.
Cambridge police need to apologize to Ms. Whalen, she has been defamed. It's that police report that caused her to be villified. I wish she had spoken up sooner, then again we really don't know what kind of intimidation she was facing.
I live in Cambridge, MA. I know a lot of Cambridge cops and most are stellar, polite and caring. I have also made a 911 call regarding a B & E. In that case I was asked to describe the culprit and yes, it was a black man with a crowbar who was nabbed redhanded. I like Cambridge police because in most cases they respond promptly. But, I'm disappointed at the handling of this issue and especially now, that police Gatesgate report. I guess we now will haveto wonder about the accuracy of future reports written by the said officer.
Meanwhile, I think the FBI needs to get to the bottom of this. A race riot almost started because of this incident. I'm wondering if tomorrow's Beerplomacy at the White House should even go on now that we know the report is innacurate.
Watch the whole Press Conference here:
http://www.necn.com/Boston/NECN-Extra/2009/07/29/911-caller-in-Henry-Gates-case/1248885044.html
Question - Who is the mystery elderly woman who stopped Ms. Whalen?
35 comments:
I watched a clip of her attorney speaking with Greta VanSustern. Now, THIS, I had a problem with. When asked, did Ms Whalen hear what happened? The answer was "yes". However, Ms. Whalen's attny continued, she did not want to get into the middle of the situation, even if it was "to correct the record". And quickly added, Ms. Whalen felt that the police action was appropriate. So... how is that NOT getting into the middle of things? And what does that "even to correct the record" comment mean? Hmmm...
Wow - way to avoid personal responsibility for your part in this.
Yes, the police need to apologize to Lucia Whalen. So does Chemi Ism. It was your choice to accept the official version of events as being sufficiently credible that you felt comfortable contributing to the defamation of this woman's character.
If it makes you feel better, the Cambridge police do obviously owe her a bigger apology - but that has nothing to do with yours, of course.
I'm also curious about the elderly woman. At one point the media was saying that Lucia Whalen was 77. Could it really be that Crowley talked to the elderly woman and thought she was Lucia Whalen?
People like you who prematurely judged her are also to blame. A lot of people are putting in some pretty serious commentary who have no idea of what actually happened.
Funny thing, but situations like this usually have more than one person to blame. The police may have gone too far, but so did Gates, and so did everyone else who labeled her as a racist before the tapes were released.
Don't blame it on the police report. 911 tapes are almost always released in a situation like this, but nobody seemed to want to refrain from saying "allegedly the caller said this, but let's see what is actually in the recorded call". Too busy being judge and jury.
Lucia Whalen did start a chain of events even if her call started with good intentions. Then she went into hiding. She should have come forth sooner to clear her name. No matter how much apology there is the damage is already done to her. Tonight President Obama will personally call her. And by the way President Obama is also vindicated. I agree the FBI Should look into this.
Chem Ism you are a coward. How dare you ask the police to issue Mrs. Whalen an apology after you spent an entire post labeling her as a racist, and blaming her for almost causing some "race war" youve dreamed up in your sad little fantasy world. The only good that can come of this is for all to see how little credibility you have. Youre man enough to hide behind a keyboard and try to destroy someones life before having all the facts, are you man enough to issue an equally passionate apology? I doubt it. Coward.
This whole situation is SAD. Lucia Whalen must wish she just kept walking instead of stopping to listen to an old fuddy duddy. True her name is tarnished forever, true respectable Prof. Gates has a mugshot because of her call, true President Obama was called out by the racists. The fact is that Lucia Whalen's call is what started GATES-GATE in motion. Bloggers only went off what they were fed by the media and that questionable police report.
So from what i gather from the collective braintrust here. If i see or at least think i see a crime in progress i should not call the police. Just stand there and do nothing, "'mind my business". And if i do call the police i should under no circumstances give a description of who is commiting the possible crime. Black, White, Hispanic, Man, Woman, Red Hair, Height, Weight. Id continue but the pure insanity of all this is giving me a headache.
The cops should apologize? How about you?
“I appreciate people looking out for their neighbor's houses, but her description of the two black males is just so so bigoted.”
“I have also made a 911 call regarding a B & E. In that case I was asked to describe the culprit and yes, it was a black man”
Chemi - Of course, as you know now, she did not even describe a black man... but if she had, what distinguishes your 911 call? is it that your call resulted in arrest, and hers did not? Or was there something else you saw in the police report that made you think her supposed comments were inflammatory. I would appreciate a meaningful, well thought out response.
As others have said, either explain yourself well or apologize. But please stop blaming others. People see through it.
It isn't your black skin that us white people find so offensive, it's your black heart.
The white racists are surely coming out and showing their true feelings.
I agree. The police should apologize to Ms. Whalen. It is they who wrote the false report that the media fed off. Has the report been updated to reflect the truth?
I think Lucia Whalen is living in fear of the influential PC police in Cambridge, most likely at Harvard University where she works. She also lives in a town, Malden, poorer than Cambridge with a significant minority presence so she probably does not like being labeled a racist as she was being because it may affect home life. Secondly, I’m guessing she probably is a liberal and is aghast at the portrayal she was initially getting from liberals and other spiteful Gates’ supporters. She was reportedly trying to play up being an “olive-American” because she’s of Portuguese descent, it seems a typically liberal “I’m a victim too” ploy to garner support. The fact she won’t answer whether she could ear yelling coming from Gates’ house seems significant also.
I congratulate the blogger for taking a stand and not backing down but following up with the events of what was happening. That police report is really the culprit, not the bloggers. If the police report was accurate would Lucia be trembling in fear?
You call yourself a journalist? You disgust me, your lies, hatred towards white people. You are the racist!
Don't worry, Lucia's attorney has your name and all your articles about slandering Lucia.
Have you ever heard of "defermation of character"?? - I hope she sues you!
From one woman to another, you are a disgrace and an embarrassment to our society!
Where are you Chemi????,,come out from hiding!!
This case has gotten more interesting even though we have had Beer Summitt. If the caller did not identify the race of the individuals trying to enter the home, who added race to the issue? The police? They have a lot of explaining to do. There is a serious abuse of power and possibly, falsification of records issue here. I think it is the police union and the commissioner who jumped to the defense of Crowley prematurely. I also ask: When, in the name of the First and Fourth Amendments to the US Constitution is one vulnerable to arrest for objecting to the police's undue presence, after producing ID in one's own home? When did our homes cease to be castles that deserve to be protected? Whether or not this was racial profiling, and I believe race was an issue as no one would argue that a white male faculty member of Harvard would have experienced such treatment, I am even more troubled by the abusive reactions of Sgt. Crowley to the verbal taunts from the Professor. Is this a police state? Why didn't the Sgt. simply leave when he verified the residence? Was he empowered to make such a damaging and humiliating example of the professor?
This is intolerable in a civil and just society. This is not a police state. Not only should these tactics be investigated and disciplinary action taken but there needs to be a public forum so we citizens can understand our vulnerability when the police come to our homes.
The police were not the ones who called that poor lady a racist & guilty of crimes, it was the black race vampires on this site. Just like Obama you jump the gun without knowing any of the facts, then like him you are not enough of a human being to admit your mistake. I know, it's a black thing. I wouldn't understand.
If Martin Luther King Jr. had been born white, race whores like you and your readers would have found a way to paint him as a racist pig. If he were reborn today as a black man you would call him an uncle tom, based on his tone of reconciliation. If you see someone breaking into Chemi's house and you are white, just walk on by. She would rather be raped or killed than accept the aid of whitey.
Chemi, I am a white male, and If I saw two black men breaking into your home I would help you. If it meant that you would call me a racist, I would still help you. If it meant that you would imply that I was a criminal, I would still help you. If it meant that blacks all over the country thought I was a bigot, I would still help you. If your words incited your readers to call me at home and threaten violence against myself or my family I would still help you. Because it would be the right thing to do.
This is for the person calling themself 'Jenny Hepburn'. I would hope that Wendy Murphy has better things to do than go after bloggers. Murphy needs to get an explanation for her client as to why the report was written as such by Sgt. Crowley. The false report is the reall issue. That said, I am black and you sound like Mammy defending her mistress. LOL!
The report was not false. It stated that Lucia Whalen observed two black men trying to gain entry into a house. Two black men WERE trying to gain entry into the house.
The police were right to include an accurate description of the race in their report, but should have perhaps mentioned that Lucia Whalen did not personally mention race in her account, if only to prevent the race whores on this blog from calling for hate and racial violence against her.
TO ALL THE CONCERNED WHITE FOLKS OUT THERE. THE FOLKS WHO ARE SO CONCERNED ABOUT LUCIA WHALEN. I BEG YOU TO ASK YOURSELVES HOW MANY BLACK FOLKS HAVE BEEN LYNCHED AND MURDERED BECAUSE OF THE FALSE WORDS OF WHITE FOLKS. PLEASE DO THAT IMMEDIATELY. THOUSANDS WERE LYNCHED FOR THINGS THEY DID NOT DO! OR IF A WHITE PERSON SAID SOMETHING IT WAS TAKEN AS GOSPEL AND BLACK MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN LOST THEIR LIVES. SGT. CROWLEY"S LIES WERE TAKEN AS GOSPEL AND SOME PEOPLE STILL WANT TO LYNCH PROF. GATES!
To My Uncle Was Lycnched. What in the hell are you talking about?? Nothing you mentioned in your post has any bearing on this discussion at all. Unless you are somehow implying that white people's comments on this thread are somehow in favor of black people being lynched and murdered based on lies by white folks. But you couldn't mean that, that would make you look stupid. BTW, you misspelled "lynched" in your name....
ANONYMOUS 11:29PM, YOU MUST BE SO PROUD OF YOU GREAT GRANDDADDY KILLING BLACK FOLKS. WAS HE THE ONE WHO DELIBERATELY PUT THE NET IN THE LAKE TO CATCH MY GREAT GRANDPA LIKE A FISH AND DROWN HIM? ALL BECAUSE MY GREAT GRANDPA HAD THE COURAGE TO STAND UP TO AN EVIL WHITE MAN AND DEMAND HIS RIGHTS! THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES IN 2009! SOMETIMES I GET EMOTIONAL AND MAKE TYPOS. I'M SURE YOU DO TO.
Even if my Grandfather was evil, I would bear no special guilt under any legal or religious grounds. Even if your Great Grandfather was lynched, it gives you no special entitlement to be a victim, or to hate all white people. BTW, you still have not explained what any of your rantings have to do with Chemi attacking an innocent woman.
They may not wear sheets, but they still have KKK mentality. Just read what some of these whites have written to defend their own. White is still supreme in their warped minds.
The difference is most white people despise the KKK. Watch any clan rally and you will see at least as many whites as blacks protesting against them. However, race whores like you and Chemi feel that it is your right to threaten whites for no other reason than they calling the police to help their fellow man. I am sorry, but if you and Chemi thought you could get away with putting on white robes and hanging Lucia Whalen for being a decent human being you would have.
Wow! It's interesting to see how the whites react when blacks speak their mind. White see any black person who dare speak their mind as a threat. This is the case of Prof. Gates. He spoke his mind to a white cop and look what happened. Black bloggers expressed their outrage now they are targets of white rage. America is still a racist country indeed. but it won't stop until white folks sgtop teaching their kids that black people are inferior to white people.
Lucia Whalen was initially unjustly vilified by some, and we now know that she acted completely responsibly throughout. She thought there was a burglary, and she called 911. Props to her for looking out for her neighbors, and for not being a racist. But this kind of thing happens every day. If she had made her case sooner maybe she wouldn't have suffered so long. I blame the inaccurate police report for all this not the bloggers, the TV stations, newspapers.
I can't help but think that Ms. Whalen wishes she had gone out to lunch a little later or earlier. Sadly, her name indeed goes down as the person who initated Gatesgate. I'd also like to know more about the old lady who tipped her off.
"White see any black person who dare speak their mind as a threat."
Wow, all white people think that? You are really painting us with a broad brush. What if I said "all black people blah, blah, blah." Wouldn't that make me racist like you?
"Gates spoke his mind to a white cop and look what happened."
Yes, let's look. Obama admitted he didn't know what the hell was going on, but still called the white cop stupid before he had the facts. If I call a black man stupid without knowing any of the facts that would also make me racist like you.
Black bloggers expressed their outrage now they are targets of white rage.
No, black bloggers attacked, lied about, called a racist (after all, you said yourself that all whitey are racist) & called for violence against a poor woman who's only crime was trying to extend a hand of friendship to an ungrateful undeserving black community.
I do agree that America is still a racist country indeed, but it won't stop until black folks stop attacking innocent white people for trying to help them.
BTW, do you not realize that the red line under the word means you misspelled it? Is it to hard for you to offer your opinion with a grade school level of spelling? It sort of undercuts every weak point you try to make.
Analyst, are you saying that if she had identified the two men as black the racist attacks against her were justified?
You say that she should have responded sooner. That is piss poor blaming of the victim. She never thought her just and caring actions would be met with such black anger and hate. She responded just as soon as black people started lying and smearing her here and all over the internet and black racial terrorists calling her at home to threaten her and her family.
IF BLACK, WHITE, LATINO, ALL HAD THE SAME EDUCATIONAL, WORK, OPPORTUNITIES, WOULD WE HAVE WHITES WHO THINK THEY ARE SUPERIOR MAKING COMMENTS ABOUT BLACK FOLKS EDUCATION. ANONYMOUS OF 10:38PM WHAT A WHITE SUPREMACIST RACIST YOU ARE! EVER HEARD OF TYPOS? OH NO, ONLY WHITE FOLKS MAKE TYPOS, IF A BLACK PERSON MAKES A TYPO, THEY ARE UNEDUCATED! JUST PUT A SHEET OVER YOUR HEAD AND STOP GRINNING IN PEOPLE'S FACES YOU PHONY EVIL WHITE PERSON! YOU ARE JUST SO PROUD OF YOUR WHITE ANCESTORS MURDER OF BLACK FOLKS!
Dear My Uncle Was Lynched!, I thought it was your great grandfather that was lynched, or are you having trouble keeping your lies straight? I don't think black people make more typos, only stupid people. That red underline means something.
I really do pity you. You aren't intelligent enough to debate any issue, so you have to play the only card in your deck. You don't have the ability to debate any of the valid points made, so all you can do is all you have ever done. Call us KKK without knowing us, call us "evil white people", claiming to know what my personal ancestors have done better than I. It doesn't make me mad and it certainly doesn't intimidate me. It only makes me pity a human being so wretched and pathetic that they have only one thing they can ever say in a race debate.
BTW, I have met African Princes & Princesses who are far superior to this white boy in charm, in education and in dress, but I don't get that same feeling from you or the hate mongers on this blog.
P.S. Writing in all caps is also a sign of poor education.
Bloggers can apologize but the real people who need to apologize to Ms. Whalen are the mass media outlets. ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN etc. They did the most damage. Im glad I''m not her. I hope she can resume a normal life.
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