Laura Ingraham Wrong about Coverage of Gates Controversy..& the Big Missed Opportunity of Three Men

Hunt for Justice

By Cynthia Hunt

Recently on Fox News Channel’s ratings juggernaut, The O’Reilly Factor, conservative commentator Laura Ingraham claimed coverage of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates’s arrest was overblown by the media. If I hadn't covered so much crime as a reporter, I would probably agree with her that there are more important issues in this age of health care overhauls, bailouts, and unemployment. But Ingraham couldn’t be more wrong.

After years of covering police and crime, the race issue permeates almost all interactions between police officers and minority communities, especially the black community. It took years of watching the police and black community interacting before I realized how strained this relationship is and how both sides often racially profile the other.

Please, before some of you jump to a conservative or liberal defensive posture, give my viewpoint a chance. This is about where we stand in America in terms of race relations today. Writing about race is extremely difficult for me. I grew up in Alabama, and I'm concerned that as a white woman I don't have the experiences to draw from, that I may miss something in my analysis. However, I feel strongly that a unique moment in history was missed because the men involved couldn’t apologize for what they each did wrong.

The Facts Surrounding Gates Controversy

A concerned neighbor called 9-1-1 because she saw two men forcing their way into the home. She didn’t mention race. The Cambridge police responded. Sgt. James Crowley asked for identification from Gates when he found Gates and a friend, who are both black, in the home of the alleged break-in. Gates refused to come out of the house and became angry he was being asked by Crowley, who is white, for ID inside his own home. Gates immediately assumed it was racial profiling saying “why, because I am a black man in America?" Gates eventually provided ID but continued to yell at the officer and accused him of being a racist. You can read Crowley's police report, which Gates has never contradicted. Eventually, Crowley arrested Gates and charged him with disorderly conduct.

Colin Powell Faulted Gates First & Crowley Second

I agree with the opinion former Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed on CNN. Gates should have been patient and come outside to answer the officer’s questions. We all must cooperate with police, even Harvard professors. Powell also believes Crowley did not have to arrest Gates, even though the officer had every right under the law. (See the WCI blog farther down on this same page by former police officer Stacy Dittrich to understand the law.) I believe if I acted so disrespectfully to Crowley in that situation, he would have had me in jail, too. I’ve never seen anyone get away with yelling at a police officer.

I Wish Gates Would Have Apologized at Beer Summit

Here’s why I'm disappointed: After the beer summit, I wanted Professor Gates to seize the moment, apologize, and admit he judged another because of race. I think he could have done that and still acknowledged the huge problem of racial profiling in America. Everyone can understand why the Harvard professor became irritated when asked for ID inside his own home. It would have been a moment of greatness for Gates to be the bigger person and apologize for jumping to conclusions because the officer’s skin is white. I would have liked to have seen the professor teach black America that it’s important for them to not assume every white officer they meet is a racist. There will never be another moment like the beer summit where Gates sad the nation’s complete attention.

Crowley Could Apologize Too

Why do I want Crowley to apologize, since the law clearly states he had the right to arrest Gates? Powell believes the arrest was simply unnecessary and since the charges have been dropped many may agree with him. However, you could argue that by arresting Gates, Crowley protected his career. How? Because the report documented the situation, illustrating that Gates's verbal barrage escalated to a point where it became disorderly conduct. If Crowley hadn't arrested Gates, I wonder if the officer would have risked being in trouble, since the Harvard professor warned that he intended to pursue Crowley for being racist. I’ve seen bad political things happen to good officers over unjust accusations. Since no one is perfect, I am confident there is some part of that night that Crowley could apologize for so that America could have seen both men apologize and unite, truly come together for more than a beer.

President Obama Should Have Apologized

It’s clear to me that President Obama should have apologized for saying the Cambridge police acted “stupidly” when he didn’t know all of the facts. Instead he said he should have "calibrated" his words differently. He, too, jumped to a conclusion based on a knee-jerk reaction to race.

Gates Is Uniquely Suited to Address Police and Minority Relations

It seems Gates is now on track to do what he can to improve race relations. Days after the scholar had time to reflect on the beer summit, he told the Associated Press he wants to produce a documentary from both the perspective of police and people who have been victims of racial profiling so "Americans can understand that you can have two equally valid perceptions of the same event." Do you think he will decide he racially profiled Crowley?

Big Moment Missed

Therefore, a prestigious black scholar, a respected white officer, and an American president who came from a white mother and a black father missed a monumental moment for a true lesson for all Americans.

I’m looking forward to Gates's documentary and hoping Crowley will be a part of it. The sad part is all of America will not watch the documentary like they watched the first presidential beer summit.

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Reaction to Oakland Police Murders Paint a Much Graver Picture

by Stacy Dittrich

The brutal homicides of 4 Oakland (CA) police officers, and a 5th officer wounded, this past Saturday is beginning to paint a greater picture of what’s to come. The horrific turn of events began when two officers on motorcycles initiated a routine traffic stop on Lovelle Mixon, 26, of Oakland. With the knowledge that he had an arrest warrant, without a bond, Mixon opened fire on both officers killing one at the scene—the other died two days later. Mixon fled on foot to a nearby apartment building, where he was subsequently surrounded by SWAT members. As the team entered the apartment, Mixon shot and killed two other policemen before he was fatally shot by return fire.

With an already extensive criminal history, Mixon (pictured right) was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon which was the result of an armed robbery he had pulled years earlier. His parole was violated, and the warrant issued, when Mixon failed to appear for several appointments with his parole officer. Consequently, it was an assault rifle that Mixon used to kill the last two officers with. What probably sickened me the most about this story, was that over 20 bystanders at the crime scene were taunting the remaining, grieving, officers. Oakland, like many cities across the country, has suffered strained race relations due to officer involved shootings of black suspects. Evidently, the two motorcycle cops had no business running a black man’s plate.

Furthermore, they were completely out of line to stop the car once they learned the driver had an arrest warrant and violent criminal history. How dare they do their jobs! Lovelle Mixon, according to his uncle, was simply misunderstood and depressed over not being able to find a job because of his felon status. Obviously, he was too depressed to appear at his parole meetings as well—he was busy out buying a stolen assault rifle. His uncle said, “His frustration was building up.” Okay, then, let's chalk it up to society's fault and we'll all go home.

To the cowardly and vicious bystanders, it was another day in Oakland. Hey! It was the cops’ fault!—a familiar scenario by now. To add further distaste and insult, the associated press wrote an article on the incident that almost emitted a bit of sympathy for Mixon. They described his marriage to his childhood sweetheart while he was in prison. I don’t know about anyone else, but I really could care less. It was further learned that Mixon's DNA was matched to the brutal rape of 12-year old girl the day before the shootings. Of course, some of the blogs are referring to Mixon as a "hero to further the rights of the repressed African American community." I have friends that are black and I can assure you that none of them are looking at a mass murderer and child rapist as a "hero." It's absolutely disgusting.

My thoughts turned to something else when I saw that, on the front page of AOL, the story had quickly been replaced by the story of a 15-year old Hispanic teen that died after being tasered by several white Michigan police officers. Did I miss something here? Are we getting so paranoid on political correctness and crime that the notion of a black felon murdering four white police officers is entirely too inflammatory? It seems that the all too liberal media is hell bent on demonizing the nation’s peace keepers. Of course, many of our politicians are fueling the flames as well.

I had the nauseating misfortune of turning my television on to, none other than, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, addressing a group of legal and illegal immigrants. She was belching about how the laws needed to be changed so the big-bad police officers couldn’t dare kick in the doors to homes where illegal immigrants slept peacefully in their beds. This, of course, was before she was off to have her 23rd face lift. Then there’s the God-awful Stimulus Bill that allotted only $2 Billion of the massive amount to the nation’s entire police force; not close to being enough. Where police departments across the country are already stretched thin in manpower and equipment, the bill slapped the faces of officers everywhere.

My own sheriff’s department just laid off a quarter of its deputies. Please, explain to them why $2 million is needed for swine odor removal and $200,000 is allotted for getting that tattoo you got when you were drunk in college removed. Of course, as long as we have millions for the ridiculous global warming panic, we should be fine, right? Again, explain that to the 75,000 people that live in unincorporated areas in my county that will have extremely limited police services, if at all. There, the jails are already overcrowded and the city had the dubious honor of the highest crime rate per capita in the nation in the 1990’s. And it’s only getting worse.

The negative coverage of policing by various news outlets isn’t warranted. Drew Peterson doesn’t represent the over half-million men and women that put their lives on the line every day. And, if you feel that is the case with all police officers, your thoughts are out of sheer ignorance. I realize it’s difficult to not get swayed when people like the modern-day-Jane-Fonda, Susan Sarandon, are out protesting cops every chance she gets. President Obama succumbed to the pressure from the FOP when he paraded in front of 25 Columbus (OH) police cadets (the entire force has roughly 3,000) claiming that he “saved their jobs.” However, he didn’t account for the several hundred that were being laid off just a stone’s throw away. I hate to say this without throwing up in my mouth a little, but it was actually Bill Clinton who signed the bill to put over 200,000 new cops on the street. At least I’ll give credit when it’s due, and there hasn’t been a president since that has made the nation’s first responders a priority.

If you were being robbed at gunpoint and feared for your life and the robber turned and fired on the responding police officer—and the robber was ultimately killed, would you care if the robber was black, white, Hispanic, Asian, or other? I think not. I think you’d be damn glad that officer just saved your life. The disastrous economy is taking its toll on crime and the people that fight it. Don’t brush it under the carpet because of race. The liberal media's consistant disrespect towards law enforcement is filtering into our streets and posing even more dangers to our cops. Yes, I'm angry, and I have a right to be.

To the slain officers at Oakland Police, and across the country, rest in peace.

If the disrespect and lack of attention towards the Oakland homicides, the lack of attention to law enforcement by the Obama administration, the numerous layoffs of cops, and the media bias are any indication of what’s to come—we’re in serious trouble.

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