“Here, I’d Be Shot:” Barack Obama Weighs In On Gates Case

Barack Obama weighed in on the controversy revolving around the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates as he was trying to enter his own home after losing his key. Charges against Gates have since been dropped and many believe the professor would not have been charged with anything had he been white. Obama said that, not knowing all the facts surrounding the case, he could not know for certain whether race played a factor. “But, I mean, dudes,” he seemed to be saying, “the man was wearing a polo shirt! You don’t break into a house wearing a polo shirt. You know? You don’t arrest someone for that; you should know better. Polo-shirt wearing people commit crimes like embezzlement or snobbily plan the perfect murder.”

Barack Obama did, however, make no question of his feelings on how the case was handled by law enforcement, calling the arresting officer’s behavior “stupid.” He also made a joke about what would have happened had be broken into his own house before realizing that his place of residence is puhretty famous. And, therefore, he’d have been shot. God, Barry, don’t even joke about that:

Henry “Skip” Gates also spoke out about the events to Soledad O’Brien. He was candid about letting the arresting officer know that he felt he was being targeted because of his race:

Cute comment about the flowers.