Cop Who Arrested Gates Not Ruling Out Defamation Lawsuit
Case Heats Up As Police Organizations Criticize Obama For Jumping into the Controversy
By MICHELE MCPHEE, RUSSELL GOLDMAN and HUMA KHAN
July 24, 2009

The police sergeant who arrested Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. last week in his own home may be considering a defamation lawsuit against Gates who has implied his arrest was racially motivated.

Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley said President Obama was "way off" on his comments about the...
Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley said President Obama was "way off" on his comments about the arrest of Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. Obama told ABC News' Terry Moran in an exclusive Nightline interview that he thinks "cooler heads should have prevailed" in the case.
(AP Photos/Getty Images)Alan McDonald, who represents Sgt. James Crowley, said the veteran cop who teaches a racial profiling class for rookie police officers has not ruled out filing a defamation of character or libel lawsuit.

"He is exploring all of his options,'' McDonald told ABC News.

Though charges were dropped, Gates has loudly asserted his arrest was a result of racial profiling.

The arrest and subsequent storm of racially charged comments has enveloped the White House after President Obama said on Wednesday the Cambridge police acted "stupidly" in arresting his friend, Gates, who is a prominent black scholar.

Police organizations and others across the country are lashing out at Obama for calling out the Cambridge Police Department.

"It's not a case of racial profiling," said NPR analyst Juan Williams on "Good Morning America."

Williams made clear there are dangers when blacks are confronted by police. "As someone whose been stopped as a black men in America, I have a very deferential approach... It's just that cops can be very prickly, especially with a black guy."

But Williams said the president went "way too far" without seeing the police report and knowing all the specifics of the case, as Obama himself admitted.

"Now what he has to do is to walk it back, say he spoke out of turn here, and I was reacting to in support of a friend," Williams advised.