(CNN) -- The woman who made the 911 call that led to the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. never referred to black suspects when she called authorities for what she thought was a potential break-in.
Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested after a break-in was reported to police.
1 of 2 Police in Cambridge, Massachusetts, released the 911 phone call Monday. In the call, Lucia Whalen reports seeing "two larger men, one looked kind of Hispanic, but I'm not really sure, and the other one entered, and I didn't see what he looked like at all."
"I just saw it from a distance, and this older woman was worried, thinking somebody's breaking in someone's house and they've been barging in," Whalen says. "She interrupted me, and that's when I noticed. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have noticed it at all, to be honest with you. So I was just calling because she was a concerned neighbor, I guess." Listen to the entire 911 call »
Attorney Wendy Murphy, who represents Whalen, also categorically rejected part of the police report that said Whalen talked with Sgt. James Crowley, the arresting officer, at the scene.
"Let me be clear: She never had a conversation with Sgt. Crowley at the scene," Murphy told CNN by phone. "And she never said to any police officer or to anybody 'two black men.' She never used the word 'black.' Period."
She added, "I'm not sure what the police explanation will be. Frankly, I don't care. Her only goal is to make it clear she never described them as black. She never saw their race. ... All she reported was behavior, not skin color."
Calls to the Cambridge Police Department about the issue have not been returned. Police Commissioner Robert Haas told reporters at a news conference Monday that the 911 tape and police transmission from that day "speak for themselves, and I would ask that you form your own opinion." He added that police always ask themselves: "If I had to do it over again, what would I have done differently?"
"This matter is not resolved," Haas said. "We have a long way to go. We recognize that we are going to take advantage of the situation and we're going to learn from it. We're going to move forward."
In the police report, filed by Crowley, he says he spoke with Whalen outside the home before he approached Gates' house.
"She went on to tell me that she observed what appeared to be two black males with backpacks on the porch of Ware Street," the report says. "She told me that her suspicions were aroused when she observed one of the men wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry."
Murphy also disputed accounts of her client as a white woman in the traditional sense. "The fact is, she's olive-skinned and of Portuguese descent. You wouldn't look at her and say, necessarily, 'Oh, there's a white woman.' You might think she was Hispanic," Murphy said.
Murphy's comments add yet another layer of intrigue to the July 16 arrest that has prompted heated discussion across the nation on race relations in America, including President Obama weighing in on the issue.
Obama last week first said police "acted stupidly" in arresting Gates after he presented identification that showed he lived in the home. But by Friday, the president said that he had spoken with Crowley and that he didn't mean to malign the Police Department.
The president acknowledged that his words "helped to contribute to ratcheting" up the debate and controversy surrounding the arrest. "I could have calibrated those words differently, and I told this to Sgt. Crowley," Obama said.
Obama spoke about two hours after police unions in Massachusetts called on him to apologize. Obama has invited Crowley and Gates to the White House this week for beer.
Don't Miss
Obama: I didn't mean to slight Cambridge cops
Police commissioner stands by professor's arrest
Read Gate's arrest report (PDF)
Mayor: Gates' arrest shouldn't have happened
Meanwhile, authorities in Cambridge announced they have created a panel to advise police on racial issues as a result of Gates' arrest.
"I am committed to making sure our city is not defined by that day. Today is the day to move forward," City Manager Robert Healy told reporters at Monday's news conference. Watch "lessons learned" panel formed »
The committee, led by "nationally recognized experts," will not investigate the arrest of Gates -- one of the nation's most prolific scholars on African-American affairs -- nor will it "make any judgments" on the officers involved, Healy said. The committee "will identify lessons to be taken from the circumstances surrounding the incident" and will advise the Police Department on how "those lessons can be applied" to its policies and practices.
"It's time to move forward and look at lessons learned and go from there," Healy said.
He also weighed in on the upcoming meeting in Washington between Gates, Crowley and Obama: "I hope they enjoy their beer at the White House." The meeting will take place on Thursday, said a senior administration official.
Also at the news conference, Cambridge mayor Denise Simmons, who is African-American, said the arrest was a "turning point for the city."
"While this has been a trying time for Cambridge, we are confident that we can ultimately come out stronger and more unified," she said. "We see ourselves as America's classroom."
Speaking to CNN by phone, Murphy said she was trying to clear Whalen's name after she's come under attack by bloggers and in chat rooms, accused of racial profiling when she first called police.
She said Whalen is "devastated" by such characterizations because she is sensitive about such issues because of her own complexion. Whalen worked down the street and was on her lunch break when she called police.
"She just wants to clear her name. She doesn't want to create more controversy," Murphy said. "She falls outside the plain lines of race, and I think she wanted people to know that."
Interesting. Looks like Crowley's got some 'splainin' to do.
Interesting. Looks like Crowley's got some 'splainin' to do.
On the contrary, I would say that the members of this forum who have repeatedly characterized the woman's call as "racial profiling" are the ones who have some explaining to do. In addition, the words that her lawyer (who is immune to perjury and obstruction) now claims she said or did not say (after her having been villified, threatened, and accused in other forums as well as here) are less credible to anyone with a brain than the sound of her voice on a recording made during the incident.
Interesting. Looks like Crowley's got some 'splainin' to do.
On the contrary, I would say that the members of this forum who have repeatedly characterized the woman's call as "racial profiling" are the ones who have some explaining to do. In addition, the words that her lawyer (who is immune to perjury and obstruction) now claims she said or did not say (after her having been villified, threatened, and accused in other forums as well as here) are less credible to anyone with a brain than the sound of her voice on a recording made during the incident.
No one who has expressed the incorrect opinion that the caller racially profiled was involved in the incident. Crowley's police report contradicts the caller's statement. That's a problem.
I have a brain. It works fairly well most days. But, similar to other people with brains as well as emotional responses rooted in past experiences, I see this incident through my personal history and biases. I am mindful of the fact that, no matter what I think I know or understand, I was not there. I may speculate using available evidence, but I wasn't there and really don't know what happened. If two people who were there have differing accounts, I chose to believe one or the other using the same brain that is rooted in my past experiences. Like it or not, that brain is currently wired to be highly suspicious of a certain kind of cop.
Joined: 02 May 2006 {Posts: 444 } Location: Īle-de-France
Posted: Tue 28 Jul 2009 13:37 Post subject:
Quote:
Crowley's police report contradicts the caller's statement. That's a problem.
I also posted in the other Gates incident forum that there was apparently a third woman involved who may have spoken with Crowley at the scene. This is a potential innocent explanation for the discrepancy.
Quote:
I chose to believe one or the other using the same brain that is rooted in my past experiences. Like it or not, that brain is currently wired to be highly suspicious of a certain kind of cop.
I am also very suspicious of Police, I assume based on my own past experiences. Part of it is that their job description generally includes lying and subterfuge to catch people who break laws that prohibit consenting adults from voluntarily putting perception altering substances in their bodies. Part of it is my own experience with police that may not be representative of all law enforcement officers. But I don't trust cops.
Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 1763 } Location: Hudson Valley, NY
Posted: Tue 28 Jul 2009 18:37 Post subject:
So I guess thye PC thing to do is if you see someone trying to force their way into a residence, the first thing to do would be to look at what "race" they are before being a responsible citizen and reporting the incident. I would bet dollars to donuts that if the perps were Caucasian, the call would have been made. Remind me if I am in Cambridge walking by Gates' house and I see anyone suspicious, to keep on walking.
I would hope and pray that if any of my neighbors see anyone trying to force their way into my house, that they will report the incident, even if it's me. All I would do is show my ID, and the situation will be over. Gates did not do this and IMO wanted to make a racial issue over this. I'm glad the 911 tapes show that this woman was not "racially profiling".
So I guess thye PC thing to do is if you see someone trying to force their way into a residence, the first thing to do would be to look at what "race" they are before being a responsible citizen and reporting the incident. I would bet dollars to donuts that if the perps were Caucasian, the call would have been made. Remind me if I am in Cambridge walking by Gates' house and I see anyone suspicious, to keep on walking.
I would hope and pray that if any of my neighbors see anyone trying to force their way into my house, that they will report the incident, even if it's me. All I would do is show my ID, and the situation will be over. Gates did not do this and IMO wanted to make a racial issue over this. I'm glad the 911 tapes show that this woman was not "racially profiling".
actually 'trying to pinpoint the persons race' is expected, I learned that in my many calls to 911, I had the experience too in my 'race shouldn't matter self righteousness' mindset. But it does matter to degrees as well as gender. For 911 its a part of the identification process.
Now in other situations it seems to depend on the person.
When I was in college working at one of the large grocery stores
A woman I came to know well and her mother (both Jewish) called me to the side a told me they saw another woman stealing. Years later I forget what but she was putting some things in her coat.
I went to the front end manager(white male) and told him. I also witnessed it. His first question was "Is she white or black"
I get a bit puzzled because race really didn't matter...
and then say "white" he get's a bit of a smile on his face and says "why don't you follow her around some more" Mind you I'm was a front end clerk not security. I said, if that is how it is Steal on Momma
Same store I witnessed a black man get tackled for stealing a lighter by security and 3 front end managers
Putting what everyone is saying together Frank Mya Dean
This is still an issue and a sensitive one
My experience like Maya has said still colors who I react to some things
I used to love and respect the cops... I still love LA:SVU and am always on the cops side. But I don't trust or respect cops like I used to. To much has colored my experience
Interesting. Looks like Crowley's got some 'splainin' to do.
On the contrary, I would say that the members of this forum who have repeatedly characterized the woman's call as "racial profiling" are the ones who have some explaining to do. In addition, the words that her lawyer (who is immune to perjury and obstruction) now claims she said or did not say (after her having been villified, threatened, and accused in other forums as well as here) are less credible to anyone with a brain than the sound of her voice on a recording made during the incident.
the people on this forum only went by the information given. this is a discussion board. That's the explaining.
In most of these topics, NONE, of us are eye witnesses or participants, so we talk we debate we think we retract
she really can't be villified
threatened
accused by people unless they themselves have sent her a message or spoken to her face to face.
Interesting. Looks like Crowley's got some 'splainin' to do.
On the contrary, I would say that the members of this forum who have repeatedly characterized the woman's call as "racial profiling" are the ones who have some explaining to do. In addition, the words that her lawyer (who is immune to perjury and obstruction) now claims she said or did not say (after her having been villified, threatened, and accused in other forums as well as here) are less credible to anyone with a brain than the sound of her voice on a recording made during the incident.
This is the second time you have attacked the credibility of the lawyers' statements. One would be led to believe that you have taken this stance because of your past experience with lawyers. More than one board member has had not so favourable experiences with the police and as a result are not so quick to take their word as "gospel" yet you seem unwilling or unable to accept or even consider their viewpoint.
In most of these topics, NONE, of us are eye witnesses or participants, so we talk we debate we think we retract
THANK YOU!!!!
This story is still evolving. Now, even the caller has spoken out directly, making it speculative at best to interpret her state of mind or intent using the recording.
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