Police: Boston Cop Used Racial Slur In Gates E-Mail
Boston Police Officer Placed On Administrative Leave
POSTED: 3:06 pm EDT July 29, 2009
UPDATED: 6:50 pm EDT July 29, 2009
BOSTON -- A Boston police officer was placed on administrative leave after he allegedly used a racial slur when referring to Henry Louis Gates Jr.
In a mass e-mail, Officer Justin Barrett, 36, called Gates a "jungle monkey," according to a law enforcement source.
Gates, a black Harvard scholar, was arrested at his home earlier this month on a disorderly conduct charge after he tried to budge open the door of his Cambridge home.
Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis found out about the e-mail on Tuesday and immediately stripped Barrett of his gun and badge, officials said. The e-mail was first sent anonymously to the Boston Globe and then to local members of the National Guard, where he is a member.
The e-mail was in response to a Globe article about Gates' arrest. In the e-mail, Barrett writes, "(Gates') first priority should be to get off the phone and comply with police, for if I was the officer he verbally assaulted like a ... jungle monkey, I would have sprayed him in the face with OC deserving of his belligerent non-compliance."
"I just say that we want to rid our department of the cancer, and that is what we did -- rid the department of the cancer. All the police officers I know don't condone any of that," Boston Mayor Tom Menino said. "An individual preaching hate has no place in our society."
Barrett is assigned to District B-3. He was placed on administrative leave pending a termination hearing.
The officer has had a badge with the department for two years and received extensive training in racial profiling prevention while in the academy.
"People go through these courses and they pass them and you don't know what they are going to do in a situation," Menino said.
The July 16 arrest sparked a national debate about race relations in America and set the stage for a meeting between President Barack Obama, the arresting officer Sgt. James Crowley and Gates.
The trio is set to meet at the White House on Thursday and discuss the incident over a beer.
Earlier Wednesday, the woman who called 911 to report the possible break-in at Gates' home said she was vilified and called a racist after the incident and hopes the release of the police tapes "will help heal the community" as they have helped restore her reputation.
Whalen told the 911 dispatcher that she saw the men trying to push open a front door.
"I don't know if they live there and they had a hard time with their key, but I noticed they had to use their shoulder to barge in, and they got in. I didn't notice if they had a key or not, because I couldn't see from my angle," Whalen said.
"Are they white, black or Hispanic?" the dispatcher said.
"There were two larger men. One looked kind of Hispanic, but I am not sure. The other one entered, and I did not see him at all," she said.
Editor's Note: While we realize some readers may find the use of Justin Barrett's exact quote offensive, we felt it was important to the full understanding of the story to report it verbatim.
Boston Police Officer Placed On Administrative Leave
POSTED: 3:06 pm EDT July 29, 2009
UPDATED: 6:50 pm EDT July 29, 2009
BOSTON -- A Boston police officer was placed on administrative leave after he allegedly used a racial slur when referring to Henry Louis Gates Jr.
In a mass e-mail, Officer Justin Barrett, 36, called Gates a "jungle monkey," according to a law enforcement source.
Gates, a black Harvard scholar, was arrested at his home earlier this month on a disorderly conduct charge after he tried to budge open the door of his Cambridge home.
Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis found out about the e-mail on Tuesday and immediately stripped Barrett of his gun and badge, officials said. The e-mail was first sent anonymously to the Boston Globe and then to local members of the National Guard, where he is a member.
The e-mail was in response to a Globe article about Gates' arrest. In the e-mail, Barrett writes, "(Gates') first priority should be to get off the phone and comply with police, for if I was the officer he verbally assaulted like a ... jungle monkey, I would have sprayed him in the face with OC deserving of his belligerent non-compliance."
"I just say that we want to rid our department of the cancer, and that is what we did -- rid the department of the cancer. All the police officers I know don't condone any of that," Boston Mayor Tom Menino said. "An individual preaching hate has no place in our society."
Barrett is assigned to District B-3. He was placed on administrative leave pending a termination hearing.
The officer has had a badge with the department for two years and received extensive training in racial profiling prevention while in the academy.
"People go through these courses and they pass them and you don't know what they are going to do in a situation," Menino said.
The July 16 arrest sparked a national debate about race relations in America and set the stage for a meeting between President Barack Obama, the arresting officer Sgt. James Crowley and Gates.
The trio is set to meet at the White House on Thursday and discuss the incident over a beer.
Earlier Wednesday, the woman who called 911 to report the possible break-in at Gates' home said she was vilified and called a racist after the incident and hopes the release of the police tapes "will help heal the community" as they have helped restore her reputation.
Whalen told the 911 dispatcher that she saw the men trying to push open a front door.
"I don't know if they live there and they had a hard time with their key, but I noticed they had to use their shoulder to barge in, and they got in. I didn't notice if they had a key or not, because I couldn't see from my angle," Whalen said.
"Are they white, black or Hispanic?" the dispatcher said.
"There were two larger men. One looked kind of Hispanic, but I am not sure. The other one entered, and I did not see him at all," she said.
Editor's Note: While we realize some readers may find the use of Justin Barrett's exact quote offensive, we felt it was important to the full understanding of the story to report it verbatim.
