Police officer who arrested Gates to address FOP [View All]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Sgt. James Crowley's hastily arranged appearance at the Fraternal Order of Police convention in Long Beach underscores that the episode remains raw for law enforcement.

August 17, 2009

Reporting from Washington - Sgt. James Crowley, the white Massachusetts police officer whose arrest of a black Harvard professor led to a political firestorm for President Obama, is scheduled to step back into the fray today in Long Beach -- thanking a national police union that defended him when Obama said he acted "stupidly."

Crowley was last seen in public sipping beer with Obama and the professor, Henry Louis Gates Jr., in a White House summit staged to smooth over the controversy from the president's comments at a July 22 news conference and to help return focus to his top priority, overhauling healthcare.

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Crowley "is going to thank the FOP for its support," said a conference delegate involved in planning the meeting, which is taking place at the Long Beach Convention Center.

The delegate, who spoke Sunday night on condition of anonymity because Crowley's appearance was still being worked out and was going to be a surprise, said the officer did not intend to criticize Obama.

"He just wants to get past this," the delegate said.

Whether his remarks will be open to the media had not been decided Sunday evening.



Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-crowley17-2009aug17,0,6664154.story