Obama phoned Officer Crowley today and they spoke for five minutes. Said he was sorry that he played a part in ratcheting it up. Has not spoken with Gates yet. More later.
Obama: "I have to tell you that, as I said yesterday, my impression of him is that he was an outstanding police officer...and that was confirmed in the phone conversation.
"Because this has been ratcheting up, and I helped to contribute to the ratcheting up...in my choice of words, I unfortunately gave the impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sergeant Crowley specifically," he continued. "I continue to believe, based on what I have heard, that there was an overreaction in pulling Prof. Gates out of his home and to the station. I also continue to believe, based on what I heard, that Prof. Gates probably overreacted as well."
"Because of our history...African Americans are sensitive to these issues." (2:35 p.m.)
More details: Obama called Crowley around 2:15 p.m. after returning from the Department of Education and they spoke for five minutes. Crowley suggested he and the president have a beer some time and Obama thought that was "a good idea."
Comments
Dere reder
Teh stoopid haz clogd our server worse than teh toilet @ a a Greek train station. Plese be stoopid in less words in footur.
Obama phoned Officer Crowley
Obama phoned Officer Crowley today and they spoke for five minutes. Said he was sorry that he played a part in ratcheting it up. Has not spoken with Gates yet. More later.
More info .. and video
Obama: "I have to tell you that, as I said yesterday, my impression of him is that he was an outstanding police officer...and that was confirmed in the phone conversation.
"Because this has been ratcheting up, and I helped to contribute to the ratcheting up...in my choice of words, I unfortunately gave the impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sergeant Crowley specifically," he continued. "I continue to believe, based on what I have heard, that there was an overreaction in pulling Prof. Gates out of his home and to the station. I also continue to believe, based on what I heard, that Prof. Gates probably overreacted as well."
"Because of our history...African Americans are sensitive to these issues." (2:35 p.m.)
Video
More details: Obama called Crowley around 2:15 p.m. after returning from the Department of Education and they spoke for five minutes. Crowley suggested he and the president have a beer some time and Obama thought that was "a good idea."
SP, Great stuff. It deserves
SP, Great stuff. It deserves it's own post. Favorite part, Obama to National Press: Get off
mySgt Corwley's lawn!