Jul 24, 2009 11:48 pm US/Eastern
Retired NYPD Officer: NYC Cops 'Outraged' At Obama
Sgt. Mullins: President Should Apologize Because Professor Gates Escalated The Incident With Cambridge PD
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Cambridge, Mass. Police officer James Crowley and Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.
AP/CBS
The original story of a notable Harvard professor handcuffed by white police officers was news enough.
But when President Barack Obama said the word "stupid" it blew up into something much bigger.
On Friday, he spoke again, offering an olive branch.
"In my choice of words I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sgt. James Crowley specifically. I could've calibrated those words differently," Obama said.
The president is recalibrating, because his comments following the arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. angered many in the law enforcement community.
"He began his comments by saying he had a personal bias and he didn't have all the facts. So the next sentence should've been 'so I'm not going to say anything,'" said Alan McDonald, counsel to the Cambridge Police.
On Thursday Crowley reiterated his love for his country, but also his disgust over Obama's remark.
"I support the President of the United States. I think he's way off base," Crowley said.
Ed Mullins is a retired NYPD sergeant. When asked what the reaction was among the cops he had spoken with about President Obama's statement, the answer was simple: "Outrage."
"Ultimately, I believe Professor Gates and President Obama owe the Cambridge Police Department and Sgt. Crowley and the law enforcement community across the country an apology," Mullins said.
The president viewed this incident through the prism of so many documented cases of blacks being mistreated by police in this country. But Mullins said this one is clearly not a case of racism.
In reviewing the Cambridge Police report, Mullins said it's clear the person who escalated the incident was Professor Gates.
According to the officers and witnesses, the professor was agitated from the start. When asked for his information, Gates allegedly said, "No, I will not!" Numerous times in the report, Gates is quoted as saying "This is what happens to black men in America."
When Gates followed the officer outside and continued yelling, that's when he was arrested.
"His behavior led to a further altercation," Mullins said.
The president said he sees this as a teachable moment about listening better, even though he still did not actually apologize.
"To the extent that my choice of words didn't illuminate but contributed to more media frenzy I think that was unfortunate," Obama said.
CBS 2 HD spoke with Mullins after the president's press conference Friday. He said Mr. Obama should retract what he said about the police acting stupidly.
Meanwhile, the president has invited Professor Gates and Sgt. Crowley to the White House.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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