Henry Louis Gates Jr. arrested, charges dropped

Note: Story Updated 3:55 PM on 7.21.2009

Henry Louis Gates Jr., renowned black scholar and Harvard professor, was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge as police said he "exhibited loud and tumultuous behavior."

Cambridge police were called to Gates' Ware Street home Thursday afternoon after a white woman reported seeing "two black males with backpacks on the porch of Ware Street," according to the police report. The witness said, "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," according to the police report.

The academic, who was returning from a weeklong trip in China, attempted to enter his front door with the help of his cab driver, only to find it jammed. Professor Gates then entered his rear door with his key, turned off his alarm, and again attempted to open the front door, according to Charles Ogletree, a Harvard Law professor who is Gates' lawyer in the case.

Once inside the 58-year-old called the Harvard Real Estate office to report the damage to his door and requested that it be repaired immediately. While on the phone with the realtor's office, he noticed a uniformed police officer on his front porch. When Professor Gates opened the door, the officer immediately asked him to step outside, according to his lawyer. Professor Gates remained inside his home and asked the officer why he was there. The officer said he was responding to a 911 call about a breaking and entering in progress at the address. Professor Gates informed the officer that he was a Harvard professor and lived at the residence. The officer then asked the academic if he could prove that he lived there and taught at Harvard. Gates handed both his Harvard University identification and his valid Massachusetts driver's license to the officer.  Both included Gates' photograph, and the license included his address, according to his lawyer.

According to Ogletree, Gates repeatedly asked the officer for his name and badge number and was never accommodated. As Professor Gates stepped onto his front porch, the officer who had been inside and who had examined his identification, said to him, "Thank you for accommodating my earlier request," and then placed Gates under arrest.  "He was handcuffed on his own front porch," said Ogletree.

The police report by arresting officer, Sgt. James Crowley, tells a very different story. According to the police report Gates was uncooperative from the onset and accused the officer of being a racist. When Sgt. Crowley asked Gates to identify himself he replied "Why, because I'm a black man in America," according to the police report. The scholar continued to tell the officer "you don't know who you're messing with." After failing to adhere to several warnings of unruly behavior, Gates was taken to the Cambridge Police Station, according to the police report.

Gates remained in holding for approximately 4 hours before being released. While his arraignment was originally scheduled for Aug. 26, the charges have since been dropped.

Some of Gates colleagues agree that this is a case of racial profiling. Allen Counter, a Harvard professor for over two decades, said in the past he was stopped by Harvard security and mistaken for a robbery suspect. "We do not believe that this arrest would have happened if professor Gates was white," said Counter. "It really has been very unsettling for African-Americans throughout Harvard and throughout Cambridge that this happened...He was totally mistreated in this incident."