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The release of the 911 transcript in last week's explosively controversial arrest of an African American Harvard professor has raised questions about the police officer's official report documenting his arrest of Henry Louis Gates outside Gate's own home.
In his police report, Sgt. James Crowley wrote that the 911 caller told him she'd seen "what appeared to be two black males with backpacks" trying to pry open the locked front door of the home. But in the 911 transcript the caller, Lucia Whalen -- who was calling on behalf of an elderly woman -- didn't mention race until asked about it by the dispatcher, and then only said that one of the men might be Hispanic.
(Click here to read the transcript, click here to read the report.)
On Monday, Whalen's attorney, Wendy Murphy, publicly stated that her client never told Crowley that the men were black.
"She never used the word black and never said the word backpacks to anyone," Murphy said, according to the New York Times.
What's more, a newly released recording of the communication between Crowley and the police dispatcher was similarly devoid of any reports of two black men. When Crowley asked about the race of the suspects, the dispatcher replied, "Unknown on the race," but said, "one may be Hispanic," according to The Times.
Meanwhile, ever since the firestorm erupted, the Cambridge Police Department's support of Crowley has been steadfast. Late last week, several black officers came to his defense on CNN.
"I know him to be a good police officer, a good man, with character, and I knew these charges were bogus," said Kelly King, a black member of the department. "I think Professor Gates has done a very good job of throwing up a very effective smoke screen, calling race into this. It had nothing to do with it."
She went on to criticize President Obama, who last week had said that he believed the officer had "acted stupidly." Obama, who has since tempered his comments and expressed an interest in meeting with both men to discuss race relations, has called Gates a friend.
"I supported him. I voted for him. I will not again," she said. "I think it's admirable that he would speak on behalf of his friend, but he should have recused himself. He should have stepped back, and should have said: 'I support my friend but I don't have all the facts.'"
