He can't get a break

Gates & Police Have Very Different Accounts; Update: Charge Dropped

Gates' "booking photos." Cambridge Police Dept./AP

Update at 11:40 a.m. ET: WBZ-TV in Boston is reporting that the disorderly conduct charge filed by Cambridge police against Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates is being dropped.

According to the station:

Cambridge police recommended to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office Tuesday that they don't proceed with the charges and the D.A. agreed to drop the case.

The Associated Press says it has been told by "a person with knowledge of the case" that the charge is being dismissed.

Update at 12:40 p.m. ET. According to the AP:

The city of Cambridge issued a statement saying the arrest "was regrettable and unfortunate" and police and Gates agreed that dropping the charge was a just resolution.

"This incident should not be viewed as one that demeans the character and reputation of professor Gates or the character of the Cambridge Police Department," the statement said.

Here's our original post:

By Mark Memmott

The story of what happened when Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested at his home last Thursday, which Laura posted about yesterday and Morning Edition covered today, continues to get considerable attention.

And the accounts of Cambridge Police and Gates (through a lawyer) could not be much different.

A quick recap: Gates returned to his home in Cambridge, Mass., from a trip. He and his driver had some trouble getting the front door open. Someone called police to say that two men (both black) were trying to force it open.

From there, the stories diverge.

Gates' attorney, Charles Ogletree, has issued a statement. It says, in part, that when the officer arrived on the scene, he asked Gates to step outside.

Professor Gates remained inside his home and asked the officer why he was there. The officer indicated that he was responding to a 911 call about a breaking and entering in progress at this address. Professor Gates informed the officer that he lived there and was a faculty member at Harvard University. The officer then asked Professor Gates whether he could prove that he lived there and taught at Harvard. Professor Gates said that he could, and turned to walk into his kitchen, where he had left his wallet. The officer followed him. Professor Gates handed both his Harvard University identification and his valid Massachusetts driver's license to the officer. Both include Professor Gates' photograph, and the license includes his address.

Ogletree says Gates asked the officer to identify himself several times, without success. And, according to Ogletree, as Gates followed the officer out of the home he was arrested.

The police, though, say Gates was arrested for "disorderly conduct after loud and tumultuous behavior."

Earlier this morning, the Boston Globe had a copy of the police report posted online (it appears to have now been removed). As the Globe writes:

The Cambridge police report describes a chaotic scene in which the police sergeant stood at Gates's door, demanded identification, and radioed for assistance from Harvard University police when Gates presented him with a Harvard ID. A visibly upset Gates responded to the officer's assertion that he was responding to a report of a break-in with, "Why, because I'm a black man in America?''

"Gates then turned to me and told me that I had no idea who I was 'messing' with and that I had not heard the last of it,'' the report said. "While I was led to believe that Gates was lawfully in the residence, I was quite surprised and confused with the behavior he exhibited toward me.''

When the officer repeatedly told Gates he would speak with him outside, the normally mild-mannered professor shouted, "Ya, I'll speak with your mama outside,'' according to the report.

Gates was arrested after "exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior'' toward the officer who questioned him, the report said.

For its part, the Harvard University Police log has only this:

"Officers dispatched to a theft in progress. Upon arrival CPD had arrested an individual."

The headline at The Harvard Crimson: "Renowned Af-Am Professor Gates Arrested For Disorderly Conduct; Gates, Who Was Trying To Enter His Own Home, Reportedly Accused Police Of Being Racist."