I told Sally when the news broke: There is another side to this story . -- I go with the officer in this manner. Obama wondered into a local incident.

"I have nothing to apologize for," police Sgt. James Crowley said.

You are much smarter than to wade into and comment on an incident without knowing all of the facts President Obama, knowing that there are always two sides. You did not do very well in the first racial controversy of your presidency. If fact, you did poorly, very poorly. And ditto to you Gov. Patrick.

Officer Tells His Side of The Story in Gates Arrest

From The Washington Post:

What began as a prominent African American professor's dispute with a white police sergeant grew more complex Thursday as the officer spoke publicly for the first time and a fuller portrait of his life emerged.

Sgt. James Crowley said Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. was combative from the moment the officer arrived at his house last week to respond to a call about a possible burglary. As the confrontation escalated, Crowley said he warned Gates that he risked arrest.

"The second warning was with me holding a set of handcuffs in my hands -- something I really didn't want to do," Crowley said in a radio interview. "The professor at any time could have resolved the issue by quieting down and/or going back inside his house."

Crowley's account came on a day of dizzying debate over his actions, a furor that was touched off by President Obama's remarks at a news conference Wednesday night, when he linked Gates's arrest to the nation's long history of racial profiling and said the police had "acted stupidly."

The events drew Obama into the first racial controversy of his presidency.

On Thursday, the Cambridge police commissioner, Robert C. Haas, described the department as "deeply pained" by Obama's criticism and said Crowley had followed proper protocol in making the arrest.

"I do not believe his actions were in any way racially motivated," Haas said. "Sergeant Crowley is a stellar member of this department and I rely on his judgment every day. He was thrust into a crime in progress, and he tried to work his way through the situation."

On Thursday, the Cambridge police commissioner, Robert C. Haas, described the department as "deeply pained" by Obama's criticism and said Crowley had followed proper protocol in making the arrest.

"I do not believe his actions were in any way racially motivated," Haas said. "Sergeant Crowley is a stellar member of this department and I rely on his judgment every day. He was thrust into a crime in progress, and he tried to work his way through the situation."

Massachusetts Gov. Deval L. Patrick (D) took the opposite position, describing Gates's experience as "every black man's nightmare."
Crowley joined the Cambridge Police Department and was eventually tapped to teach a class on racial profiling at a police training academy.

Thomas Fleming, director of the police academy at the Lowell Police Department, which has a partnership with the Cambridge Police Department, said Crowley has taught the course for five years and has trained 300 recruits, none of whom have complained about him.

"He's a very professional police officer and he's a great instructor," Fleming said in a phone interview from his home.

Crowley arrested Gates last week after a neighbor called police to say someone appeared to be trying to break into a home. In fact, Gates was returning from an overseas trip and could not get his locked front door open.

When Crowley arrived and questioned whether Gates lived in the home, the 58-year-old academic became upset, eventually demanding the officer's name and badge number so he could file a complaint. Crowley said Gates referred to Crowley's mother as a way of showing his displeasure.

When the officer repeatedly asked Gates to speak with him outside, the professor responded, "Ya, I'll speak with your mama outside," Crowley wrote in a police report.

"I'm still just amazed that somebody of his level of intelligence could stoop to such a level, and berate me, accuse me of being a racist or racial profiling," Crowley said in a radio interview Thursday with WEEI-AM. "And then speaking about my mother, it's just -- it's beyond words."

Crowley, 42, said that, when he first saw Gates, in "my mind, I'm thinking, 'He does not look like someone who would break into the house.' " At the same time, however, "from the time that he opened the door, it seemed that he was very upset, very unhappy that I was there."

Of Obama, Crowley said in an interview with Boston's WBZ-AM: "I support the president of the United States 110 percent. I think he's way off base wading into a local issue without knowing all the facts as he himself stated before he made that comment."

What also became clear Thursday was that, because of Obama's comments, the issue was suddenly freighted with political significance.

"Nobody is happy about this situation," Haas said. "This is not the kind of notoriety we want to come to this city. We have worked very hard for many years to improve our professional standing."