Lucia Whalen spoke during a press conference in Cambridge, Mass., in an effort to clear her name. The appearance came after the city released the 911 tape showing that she did not identify either of the men she thought she saw trying to break into the home as black, even though an initial police report said she did.
The woman who made the 911 call that launched America into a national debate on race said Wednesday that she was unfairly called a “racist” after she reported a possible break-in at the Cambridge, Mass., home of black Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.
A clearly distressed Lucia Whalen addressed reporters at a press conference in an effort to clear her name after the city released the 911 tape. It revealed that Whalen did not identify either of the men she thought she saw trying to break into Gates’ home as black, even though an initial police report said she did.
“When I was called racist and I was a target of scorn and ridicule because of the things I never said, the criticisms hurt me as a person, but it also hurt the community of Cambridge,” Whalen said.
“Now that the tapes are out, I hope people can see that I tried to be careful and honest with my words,” she said. “It never occurred to me that the way that I reported what I saw be analyzed by an entire nation.”
Whalen said repeatedly in the July 16 call that she didn’t have a good vantage point and could not see what the two men trying to get into the home looked like.
When pressed by a dispatcher on whether the men were white, black or Hispanic, Whalen said one of them might have been Hispanic.
The two men Whalen saw trying to force their way into the home turned out to be Gates, who lives there, and his driver. Gates was arrested by Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley for disorderly conduct, but charges were later dropped.
Whalen’s attorney, Wendy Murphy, seized the opportunity to criticize President Obama’s invitation to host both Gates and Crowley for a beer summit at the White House on Thursday.
“The one person whose actions have been exemplary, will be at work tomorrow in Cambridge,” she told reporters. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s a guy thing.”
Murphy said the incident spiraled into a media sensation because of the “overreaction of three men” — which Murphy said included the response from the president.
“I’m proud to introduce you to the one person who didn’t overreact,” she said.
Obama said during a press conference last week that the Cambridge police had “acted stupidly” when they arrested Gates even after he showed them identification verifying his residence.
A White House administration official confirmed Monday that Obama will be hosting the two men for a beer at the White House.
The president had phoned Crowley, who suggested the three men sit down for a drink. The president said he liked the idea, and Gates reportedly concurred when Obama phoned him next.
