Gates is a “banana-eating jungle monkey” according to an e-mail sent from a Boston, Massachusetts police officer where he was making reference to Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Officer Justin Barrett, 36, has since been placed on leave and has jeopardized the chances of him keeping his job as part of law enforcement. As he is also an active member of the National Guard, Barrett streamed an e-mail to members of the Guard as well as The Boston Globe. The reasoning for such a harsh message came from the case of Gates as he was discontented about a column made by The Globe in reference to the Black man’s arrest.
Along with continuously referring to Gates as a bumbling jungle monkey that eats bananas, the officer also stated that if he was in the same situation as the other cop he would have sprayed him in the face with pepper spray for verbally disrespecting him. The e-mail would later be posted on a local Boston television station’s site.
Barrett’s rants also reached out to the columnist who covered the arrest in the publication, Yvonne Abraham, as he dubbed her writing as being “jungle monkey gibberish.” He also attacked her credibility as a writer stating that she had little to no experience in her field. To make matters worse he added that she should be a servant to him and bring him coffee and donuts on Sunday morning.
As if the police department didn’t have enough to deal with routinely, the actions of Barrett were taken care of promptly as Commissioner Edward Davis proceeded to have the officer relieved of his gun and his badge and will indefinitely be on leave after the results of his hearing for termination is over. Davis has also stated that he wants Barrett fired, according to a source with the investigation.
Barrett, however, might be able to see a lighter side until he is possibly fired as he will continue to receive compensation while on leave. No hearing has been set as of now.
It’s things like this which easily explains why most people, especially Blacks, look at Boston in such a negative light and feel as though it is filled with nothing but racist white folk that turn over cars and rampage whenever the Red Sox win. Epic fail number two for the week folks.
