Quote Originally Posted by mhall View Post
...Should PRESIDENT Obama have said what he did? He starts by saying that he didn't know all the facts and wasn't there, but the Cambridge Police acted Stupidly, his words. ...
I think he should have waited until the facts were in. From what I've read online, it seems that the cops were just doing their job and checking the house out because a neighbor had called them about someone breaking into the house. If that is the case, Gates should have shown his ID and then thanked them for checking out the house.

Couple other things I found online. In Massachusetts, it's not really a crime to be disorderly in your own home. The crime of disordely conduct has to be committed in a public place, and be done with the intent to cause public alarm. And it shouldn't result in an arrest, since the Legislature made it non-jailable after July 1, 2009. There is no legal requirement to produce ID, either.

The fact that Gates stepped out of the house and followed the cop is what probably led to his arrest.

As far as the racist comments, it also appears that Gates was out of line. A few years back the same cop that arrested him came across a non-responsive black man and give him CPR and mouth to mouth until the parametics arrived.

Andrew