Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Sunday, July 26, 2009

CAMBRIDGE COP'S UNFORTUNATE LICENSE PLATE (TAG)




After Barack Obama said Cambridge cops "stupidly" arrested Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates on the front porch of his own home, the police said they "deeply resent the implication" anyone would think they're racists.


Maybe [someone should] clue this Cambridge cop in.

At around noon today, the same time Sgt. Dennis O'Connor, president of the Cambridge Police Superior Officers Association, gave his press conference trying to push back against perceptions that the Cambridge cops aren't exactly racially enlightened, Harvard student Seth Bannon spotted this cop pull up to a deli on Massachussetts Ave. in what appears to be his personal SUV with a hilarious license plate: WHY-TEE.

We asked Bannon, who first Twittered the picture, to tell us more:

I was eating breakfast at the Gourmet Express Market and Deli (1868 Mass Ave, Cambridge), when around NOON the black SUV pictured backed into that space and parked illegally. The police officer pictured exited the SUV, walked into the Deli, ordered a sub, got back into the SUV, and drove off. I took the picture as the officer was getting back into the SUV.
I'm not nearly as disturbed by the (entirely unnecessary) illegal parking job as I am by the utter crudeness of the plates, especially in the aftermath of the Gates debacle.

5 comments:

The Thin Blue Line said...

So now it's a conspiracy against the Cop that arrested Gates?

Totally uncalled for and untrue! Again with the race card, it has been proven already that it wasn't about race except for Gate's and Obama. Gate's admitted that he had to break into his own place, the neighbors didn't know it was Gate's when they called and when asked for ID by the cop he went off the deep end.... Sorry you have no leg to stand on!

I don't care who the somebody is. If he breaks the law, he's treated accordingly. This gentleman was not arrested because he was black or because of his class; he was arrested because he broke the law. Being a celebrity is irrelevant. Answer and respond to the Officer's questions like a Gentlemen like he was suppose to be and there would not have been any other problems. Become a wise ass and you'll be treated as one.

Shaw Kenawe said...

TTBL,

Where does it say anything about a conspiracy? Nowhere.

And you believe that if an American citizen after producing proper ID and is IN HIS OWN HOME WHERE HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE SECURE IN HIS PERSON AND PAPERS but"is uppity" to a policemen, that it is grounds to cuff and arrest him?

That's what I'd call living in a police state, one in which millions of people around the world have had to live under.

And police have been known to overstep their authority--plant evidence and even kill. Some cops are belligerent and, yes, racist.

Ever hear of Bull Connor? Do you honestly believe that shameful time in America's history is completely over?

"WHY-TEE" on the Cambridge policeman's car. What do you suppose that means?

We need to have proportionality here.

No policeman should have the right to intimidate an American in his own home--especially once that American has produced the evidence required of him.

The cop, who was armed with a gun and who had back-up, should have tipped his hat, said excuse me for intruding IN YOUR PRIVATE HOME. YOU OBVIOUSLY ARE NOT BREAKING INTO YOUR OWN HOME and left.

No matter what the professor said.

The professor was in HIS OWN HOME AND COMMITTED NO CRIME.

Cops put their lives on the line [and we all respect them and thank them for their service]--that is true, but they also have to understand that sometimes they have to use their common sense and not intimidate handicapped older men in order to soothe their injured egos.

dmarks said...

"Ever hear of Bull Connor?"

I looked him up. Bull Conner (with an "E") was a proud Democrat, too.

libhom said...

There really needs to be a federal investigation of the Cambridge Police Dept.

I see you are getting racist trolls too.

dmarks said...

No racist trolls in these comments yet. But they will likely come along. There's a new batch of trolls making comment in the older posts already.