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Harvard Scholar Arrested, Accuses Police Of Racism

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Jul 20, 2009 10:12 pm US/Eastern

Harvard Scholar Arrested, Accuses Police Of Racism

CAMBRIDGE (WBZ) ― A well-known black Harvard scholar is accusing Cambridge police of racism after they arrested him last week.

Police say they were called to Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s home near Harvard Thursday afternoon after a woman reported seeing a man try to pry open the front door.

It was Gates's home and he was apparently locked out.

Police say they ordered the man to identify himself and that Gates refused.

According to a police report, Gates then called the officer a racist and said, "This is what happens to black men in America."

As police tried to calm Gates, the reports says, he shouted, "You don't know who you're messing with."

He then began shouting to neighbors and wouldn't listen as police tried to explain why they were there, the report says.

Police declined to comment Monday. City officials could not be reached for comment, nor could spokespeople for Harvard.
 
This is from the entry on the city's daily police log:

"On 7/16/09 at 12:44 PM, 58-year-old Henry Gates of 17 Ware St. Cambridge, MA was arrested for Disorderly conduct after exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior."

Gates was charged with disorderly conduct and is free on personal recognizance. He is scheduled to be arraigned next month and could be fined $150.

The Rev. Al Sharpton of New York is vowing to attend Gates' arraignment.

"This arrest is indicative of at best police abuse of power or at worst the highest example of racial profiling I have seen," Sharpton said. "I have heard of driving while black and even shopping while black but now even going to your own home while black is a new low in police community affairs."

Gates referred comment to his lawyer, Harvard Law Scholol professor Charles Ogletree. In an e-mail, Ogletree's office said he was on Martha's Vineyard and was not available for comment.

Gates is the director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research.

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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