A Boston police officer has been suspended for sending an e-mail in which he referred to Dr. Henry Louis Gates as a a" jungle monkey," city officials said.
According to the Boston Globe, Officer Justin Barrett has been suspended indefinitely pending a termination hearing.
Follow me below the fold for details:
Boston law enforcement officials became aware of Barrett's e-mails when they were contacted by members of the Massachusetts National Guard which had received a copy of Barrett's rambling 700 word missive which was first sent to the Boston Globe and then forwarded to the Guard unit.
“If I was the officer (Gates) verbally assaulted like a banana-eating jungle monkey, I would have sprayed him in the face with OC (pepper spray) deserving of his belligerent noncompliance,” the e-mail reads.
Barrett attempted to call the episode a misunderstanding in an interview with WBZ (Channel 4) TV:
“I did not mean to offend anyone,’’ he said. “The words were being used to characterize behavior, not describe anyone . . . I didn’t mean it in a racist way. I treat everyone with dignity and respect.’’
Translation: Barrett is an equal opportunity racist.
The Boston Herald undermined that claim when it published what it claims was the offending e-mail, which features a laundry list of gripes from the darkest depths of Wingnuttia:
...You (a Globe Columnist) state that (Harvard professor Henry Louis) Gates is this immensely famous expert on race.' What has he done for the law enforcement community or military veterans or to secure freedoms and our borders in this country? What has he done to help limit and reduce my income tax?
WTF?
It seems like Barrett is directing his vitriol at Globe columnist Derrick Z. Jackson, who is African-American.
The Herald published these excerpts of the e-mails (Which are currently not available in the On-line edition):
Gates indeed has transcended back to a bumbling jungle monkey...Go ahead, ax (SIC) what I think?
IMO using the word "Ax" instead of "ask" mocks the speech of some African-Americans who mispronounce the word by transposing the "K" and "S" in "Ask."
I am not racist, but I am prejudice (SIC) towards people who are stupid.
Translation: Even though I can't spell, I will sanctimoniously mock others (who happen to teach at Harvard).
“We’re worried about the consequences on the street,” said a cop, who requested anonymity. “This could set our race relations back 30 years.”
Which is why the Boston police union moved swiftly to respond to Barrett's comments.
Even Barrett’s union president condemned the remarks. “We deplore . . . those comments, but we’re confident they in no way reflect on our members,” said Thomas Nee, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association.
Detective Larry Ellison, president of the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers, called the incident “disgusting.” Most disturbing, he said, is that the officer felt “comfortable” enough to forward the e-mail to fellow Guardsmen and allegedly admit to BPD that he wrote it.
Boston Mayor Tom Menino, who faces reelection this fall, was emphatic in his comments:
“I was angry about the incident when the commissioner spoke to me [Tuesday] night,’’ Menino said. “I said, ‘He has no place in this department, and we have to take his badge away.’ That stuff doesn’t belong in our city, and we’re not going to tolerate it.’’
The mayor said he has not seen the e-mail and while the officer is not officially terminated, he might as well be. “He’s gone - g-o-n-e. I don’t care, it’s like cancer, you don’t keep those cancers around.’’
IMO, Barrett will not get fired because in Massachusetts, civil service employees rarely do even for wanton misconduct. Moreover, the same union which denounced his comments, is legally obligated to provide free legal counsel to him.
However, he may face disciplinary action including dismissal from the Massachusetts National Guard, which did not respond to inquiries from the media.
UPDATE: Thank you to reader Allie123 for providing the link (unfortunately Fox-25 tv) with the e-mail:
I can't cut and paste the text, so if anyone else has a different link, let me know.
UPDATE 2: Reader Lucy Montrose notified me that Blue Mass Group has a link (but you still can't cut and paste). Blue Mass Group says the Globe writer in question is Yvonne Abraham and not Derrick Z. Jackson as I speculated earlier. Thanks for noticing.
This is what Barrett wrote about Abraham:
a hot little bird with minimal experiences in a harsh field. You are a fool. An infidel. You have no business writing for a US newspaper nevermind detailing and analyzing half truths. You should serve me coffee and donuts on Sunday morning. . . You need to serve a day with the infantry and get swarmed by black gnats while manning your sector. Or you just need to get slapped, look in the mirror and admit, "Wow, I am a failure. I am a follower. Who am I kidding?" Again, I like a warm cruller and a hot Panamanian, black. No sugar.