Statement Of Congressman King Regarding The Cambridge, MA Police Incident
July 24, 2009
President Obama was absolutely wrong the other night when he slandered Cambridge Police Sergeant James Crowley for arresting Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates while investigating a reported burglary at the Professor’s home. Very simply, the President prejudged a case about which he admittedly did not know the facts and came down on the side of the Professor and against the police officer.
The facts, which we do know, indicate that if anyone acted “stupidly” it was the Harvard Professor who insulted and berated and refused to cooperate with a police officer who was trying to do his job investigating a burglary report. It was the Professor who injected race, not the Sergeant. There is nothing to indicate that the Sergeant would have acted any differently if it were a white professor being loud, abusive and uncooperative at a possible crime scene.
The President’s attack on Sgt. Crowley indicates an underlying liberal bias against law enforcement. I know enough about a cop’s job to know how tough it is. I also know how easy it is to stand on the sidelines and second-guess the police officer who has to make on the spot decisions.