Racial-slurring Boston cop says he's not a racist

Only his mama would believe him.

Justin Barrett (right), the Boston police officer who sent a mass e-mail calling Harvard Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr. a "banana-eating jungle monkey" has apologized, saying he's not a racist.

Are you fucking kidding me? I'm not racially touchy, and even I can see that that remark couldn't possibly be taken any other way.

"I regret that I used such words," Barrett told CNN affiliate WCVB-TV. "I have so many friends of every type of culture and race you can name. I am not a racist." Sure you're not.

He regrets it because he's about to lose his job. But he's toast. Banana-eating jungle monkey? WTF!

Barrett was placed on administrative leave after allegedly sending the mass e-mail to his National Guard buddies and the Boston Globe (what a dunce!) in which he vented about a July 22 Globe column on the Gates arrest, and he might lose his job as a result.

Yesterday I said that putting the racial issue aside, this guy should get fired for being this stupid. No one this dumb should carry a weapon and be in a position to arrest people. (See Dumb Boston cop fired for racist email re: Gates.)

I can't wait to see him explain how his jungle-monkey remarks are not racist tonight at Larry King Live. Surely, a lawyer will be sitting next to him or off camera.

I used to live in Massachusetts. I've heard about the monkeys, which were usually described as "swinging off trees" by the "non"-racist people when talking about black people. Trust me--it's 100% racial.

In a news conference held Thursday morning, Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis denounced the e-mail, CNN reported.

"We have a relationship to maintain with the community," he said. "Police officers certainly have First Amendment rights, but they can't cross the line. I believe this crosses the line."

Davis said he spoke with Gates, who was "gracious and incredibly thankful that we took action."

Gates, a top African-American scholar, was arrested on July 16 by Sgt. James Crowley of the Cambridge Police for disorderly conduct after the officer responded to a 911 call reporting a possible home invasion of Gates Cambridge home. The charge later was dropped.

The controversial incident sparked a national debate about racial profiling in which even President Obama got involved. (See Obama-Gates-Crowley Beer Summit scheduled, posted yesterday. For background and additional information, click on the links for earlier stories at the end of the post.)

Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham supported Gates' actions, asking readers, "Would you stand for this kind of treatment, in your own home, by a police officer who by now clearly has no right to be there?"

In Barrett's e-mail, which was posted on a Boston TV station's website, he stated that if he had "been the officer [Gates] verbally assaulted like a banana-eating jungle monkey, I would have sprayed him in the face with OC [oleoresin capsicum, or pepper spray] deserving of his belligerent non-compliance."

Barrett used the "jungle monkey" phrase four times, three times referring to Gates and once referring to Abraham's writing as "jungle monkey gibberish," CNN reported.

One time and he might have been able to tip-toe around with some insanely concocted excuse. But four times? He's toast.

Barrett also said that 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."

And he apologized last night? What for? An apology alone does not change a man's character.

Barrett's comments were taken out of context, said his attorney, Peter Marano. So it's my and everyone else's fault because we're idiots who either can't read or can't understand what we read. Right.

"Officer Barrett did not call professor Gates a jungle monkey or malign him racially," Marano said. "He said his behavior was like that of one. It was a characterization of the actions of that man." Or a monkey...

Um...I don't think that will fly.

Davis wants Barrett, a two-year member of the Boston police, fired, a source close to the investigation said. But he will continue to be paid while on leave, and no date has been set for his termination hearing, CNN reported.

UPDATE: As expected, Barrett appeared on Larry King Live sitting closely to his lawyer, who took it upon himself to answer for the cop several times until Larry cut him off.

Before answering any questions, Barrett again repeated what he had memorized of the apology given earlier today. It sounded rehearsed. "I'm not racist," he said once or twice during that introduction.

Alrighty. Then, why did you apologize for what you said if it wasn't a racist comment?

Larry asked one really smart and crucial question: "Have you ever used that language before."

Take a guess at what the cop said. You got it.

"No, I have never used those words before."

There's no way he hasn't, and now he's fucked because someone will come out of the woodwork and show up on Larry King to reveal that he or she has heard Barrett use that term before.

After another interruption from the lawyer, Larry wisely pressed on, asking the cop what then made him choose those words--"banana-eating jungle monkey"--if he's never used that kind of language before.

"I don't even know ... I couldn't tell you ... I have no idea," Barrett said.

Are you kidding me? How can he not know whether or not he's ever said something like banana-eating jungle monkey? He has no idea? Right. I tell you what, if that's the case, then in addition to racist and dumb, he's also a forgetful flake--another reason to keep him off the force, if you ask me.

This dunce sat down and composed a letter he expected an editor at the Boston Globe to take seriously and possibly publish. He was so proud of it, he also sent it out via a mass email to friends at the National Guard.

Writing such a letter forces the writer to pay more attention to word choice than when merely speaking the words, which often happens a bit too soon after thoughts emerge, so we "speak before we think" and end up regretting our words. It happens to all of us. It happened to Obama when he said, "the Cambridge police acted stupidly" arresting Gates in his own house.

"There was no intentional racism or bigotry in my words," Barrett said. "I did not intend that."

Then, what exactly did you intend, and what did you think those words would communicate?

The truth is he does know, he could tell us but chooses not to, and he does have an idea. Of course he does. But what is he gonna say--"yes, I've used that language before"? Of course not, because that would mean he's a racist, which he vehemently denies.

If he tells the truth, he's fucked. If he lies, he's fucked. Basically, he's toast.

"I treat people with dignity and respect ... I'm not a racist."

This guy could use his own "teaching moment," if you ask me.

Source: CNN
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