Gates Received Death Threats Over Arrest

Even if the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. about two weeks ago was just a simple combination of misunderstanding and overreaction, it's created disturbances much larger than anything Gates could have yelled. First Obama called the actions of the police "stupid." Then there was the racist email sent by a Boston police officer. Finally, we got around to the important question: what beer will everyone drink? But perhaps most disturbing is Gates' revelation today at the Martha's Vineyard Book Festival that he received death threats over the incident. Imagine: you're arrested. In your own home. You're upset about it. So people threaten to kill you. Gates may have overreacted to Crowley's demands, but that doesn't excuse escalating the situation from being disorderly to threatening death. And though that infamous beer summit hasn't given rise to much concrete action yet, Gates says he wants to create a documentary about racial profiling. The documentary would pair the experiences of police officers and profiled individuals to help everyone understand that there can be multiple perspectives on the same incident.