Obama’s First Slip Up
It seems a friend of Obama Henry Lewis Gate lost his keys and attempted to break into his own home with a second individual. Unfortunately some neighbours saw him and phoned the police of whom a white police Sergeant James Crowley turned up to the call. A little while later the sergeant arrested Henry Lewis. President Obama felt he needed to comment on this incident, claiming the police had not acted in a way they should, especially as this suspect was black.
However as the real facts emerge, it turns out that this police sergeant is very much respected and works for his black superior. Witnesses say it was not the police but in fact Henry Lewis that overacted to the situation, would not identify himself and refused to come out of his home. Working with the information in front of him, Crowley arrested this unknown intruder only to find out late he was the resident of that home.
With the new facts in front of him, Obama was forced to add extra comments about the situation and state his intention was not to state that the police “acted stupidly”. Neighbours claimed the police acted correctly and no racial tones were ever there. They were acting in a way they should to a call that 2 people had broken into a neighbour’s home.
Comments were not favourable to Mt Lewis suggesting he used the racial issue because he had a chip on his shoulder. This first slip will be a lesson for President Obama also, to ensure he gets the full picture before commenting, after all this became international news.