Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Media, Politics, Society

Officer Admits That He Repeatedly Called Gates a “Jungle Monkey” But Insists That He Is Not A Racist

220px-Boston_Police_patchBoston Police Officer and National Guardsman Justin Barrett has gone public to deny he is a racist and apologize to professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. for repeatedly calling Gates a “banana-eating jungle monkey,” insisting that “I have so many friends of every type of culture and race you can name. I am not a racist.”

Even if Barrett is a non-racist who engages vile racist rants, his email is a chilling and disturbing rant by a police officer. In his email to fellow National Gaurdsmen, Barrett declared that if he had “been the officer he verbally assaulted like a banana-eating jungle monkey, I would have sprayed him in the face with OC (oleorosin capsicum, or pepper spray) deserving of his belligerent non-compliance.” He called Gates a jungle monkey three times and used the term a fourth time to refer to a columnist’s (Yvonne Abraham) writing. He insisted he was “not a racist but I am prejudice [sic] towards people who are stupid and pretend to stand up and preach for something they say is freedom but it is merely attention because you do not get enough of it in your little fear-dwelling circle of on-the-bandwagon followers.”

Putting aside the obvious question of whether you can use shocking racist terms without being a racist, Barrett also believes that it is appropriate for an officer to pepper spray citizens who are belligerent. He seems poorly suited for public service.

However, there is the issue of free speech. These statements were made to national guardsmen and friends in what appears to be his personal time. An officer should be allowed to hold racist views so long as he does not allow those views to interfere or affect his performance as an officer. We have seen an increasing level of disciplinary actions against students (here, teachers (here and here and here and here and here and here), police officers (here and here) and other public employees (here) for their private conduct or views. Barrett’s racist rant presents a difficult question. Both his use of such prejudicial language and his view of the proper use of force raise serious question over his judgment. Ironically, while he is willing to pepper spray citizens for their use of free speech, he may be protected by the very rights that he is willing to disregard as an officer. Yet, many officers are likely to have obnoxious or unpopular personal beliefs. Like other citizens, they are entitled to be hateful, ignorant, and obnoxious in their private time.

The one claim that the city could make to hold Barrett accountable is that he identified himself as an officer and expressed his erroneous view on what officers should do in such a circumstance. In doing so, he undermined the department in dealing with citizens and brought ridicule upon the force. Yet, it is also clear from the email that he is speaking in his personal capacity.

For the story, click here.

24 thoughts on “Officer Admits That He Repeatedly Called Gates a “Jungle Monkey” But Insists That He Is Not A Racist”

  1. @ puzzling, hiring ex-military just continues the militarization of domestic police departments.

  2. Quote-unquote can actually be written using punctuation as in “your quote un quote” …

    Most people don’t spell it out when writing. They usually just put quotation marks around that which is being quoted.

  3. I think your headline in misleading. I have been following the Gates story fairly closely, and when I saw the headline, I thought maybe I had missed something important about Officer Crowley. As a read through the article, I was confused- I didn’t remember anything about Officer Barrett in any of the other stories.

    While your article makes important points about how an officer’s personal beliefs may lead to discriminatory actions when he is carrying out his duties, I think you should make it clear that this story is NOT about Officer Crowley or anyone else involved in the incident involving Gates. As it is written, I think someone who was less familiar with the story would easily get the impression that the arresting officer called Gates a jungle monkey, lending support to Obama’s position that the officer’s actions were racially motivated.

    Gates has been trying to tar Crowley as a racist from the moment he showed up on the front porch in response. Those writing about the incident should take care to avoid doing the same without evidence.

  4. Euripides raises a good point.

    How much can a defendant investigate the personal life and philosophy of an officer involved in the defendant’s arrest and prosecution? How much do we allow private motivations of the officer to be disguised as official acts?

  5. While the officers words were uttered in private, would a defence lawyer be able to use them in court against him in an unrelated trial?

    If so, I don’t see how he can do his job effectively even if his behaviour while on duty is impeccible, as this can always be used to cast doubt upon his actions.

  6. Vince while you are acting as the Blog Police can you tell us Where Buddah’s and Mike Spindle and others discussion of Aliens goes. Which thread do they belong under. For someone who seems so smart as you, you sure act childish when it comes to how people are suppose to comment. your quote un quote your wanting to censor BVM accusing others of posting under a different name ect. ect. I will go out on a limb and say you are not who you say you are. I am willing to bet that you have taken on the Idenity of Vince Treacy lawyer from DC when in fact that aint you. Prove me wrong Vince.

  7. Boston police officers are extremely well paid, with most earning more than $100,000. A sizable number earn over $200,000, including the district commander where I live, who earns $227,763. Add to that extremely generous benefits that would be untouchable in the private sector, including tax-free lifetime pensions. Apparently that level of compensation isn’t enough to attract the very best and brightest, as this story shows.

    I would like to see lifetime job guarantees disappear for all police officers. Here’s why:

    We have thousands of well trained, disciplined military veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan that are well suited for these positions and now face tough employment prospects. They will not demand $200K to put their lives on the line, so to speak, since they just did it for $50K while away from friends and family for years at a time.

    Not only would communities get a better mix of experienced men and women protecting them, they would have lower policing costs, allowing the city to put more community police on the street if necessary. To phase this in and create some sense of job uncertainty in officers like Justin Barrett, the city should require current officers to apply again for their own jobs every five years.

  8. It is called denial. It is a mental illness in the sense that a delusion is cuddled up to instead of facing the reality of the racism so that treatment can have its effect.

  10. BIRTHER BYRNE, I have already read Leo’s post, and it will be answered here.

  11. The posting “Bdaman 1, July 30, 2009 at 7:03 am Are Birthers Nuts?” does not belong here. This is hijacking a thread.

    It has been moved to “Retired Major General.”

  12. NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee lawmaker resigned from the state Senate on Tuesday after his extramarital affair with a 22-year-old intern was revealed by an investigation into an extortion case. “Due to recent events, I have decided to focus my full attention on my family and resign my Senate seat effective August 10,” Republican Sen. Paul Stanley wrote in his resignation letter

    http://www.newsmax.com/politics/us_tenn_senator_extortion/2009/07/28/241158.html

  15. Special prosecutor in Stevens case can force testimony

    A special prosecutor in Washington, D.C., was granted authority Tuesday to compel testimony from the Justice Department team that took Sen. Ted Stevens to trial. He was also authorized to subpoena the former lead FBI agent in the Alaska corruption investigation and key witness Bill Allen and his attorney

    http://www.adn.com/news/politics/fbi/stevens/story/879880.html

  16. Barney Frank: Public Option is Best Way to Reach Single Payer (Video)
    Morgen on July 27, 2009

    Interviewer: Don’t you think we should scratch everything and start anew with single payer? Why not?

    Frank: No…because we don’t have the votes for it. I wish we did. I think if we get a good public option it could lead to single payer, and that’s the best way to reach single payer. Saying you’ll do nothing until you get single payer is a sure way never to get it.

    Interviewer: Right now, it’s not a strong public option, is it?

    Frank: Well, we don’t know what the plan is. I’m for a strong public option. I think your strategy is suicidal for trying to get single payer. I think the best way we’re going to get single payer – the only way – is to have a public option demonstrate its strength and power.

    http://www.verumserum.com/?p=7408

  17. The Associated Press Declares War on the Online World

    On July 23, the AP, that empire of alleged journalism that characterizes itself as “The Essential Global News Network,” signaled its intention to fundamentally change its relationship with the rest of the online world:

    As part of a strategy approved Thursday by the AP’s board, the cooperative will start by bundling its text stories in an “informational wrapper” that will include a built-in beacon to monitor where stories go on the Internet.

    The beacon is meant to be a policing device aimed at deterring websites from posting AP content without paying licensing fees. The AP and its member newspapers contend unlicensed use of their material is costing them tens of millions of dollars in potential ad revenue. …

    “This is a pivotal step in the fight to ensure that quality journalism can be funded in the digital era,” Tom Curley, AP’s chief executive, said in an interview. “We have stood by too long and watched other people make money off the hard work of our journalists. We have decided to draw a line in concrete.”

    http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/the-associated-press-declares-war-on-the-online-world/

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