Boston Cop Suspended After Racial Slur on Gates

Calls him 'jungle monkey' in email
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 29, 2009 5:54 PM CDT
Boston Cop Suspended After Racial Slur on Gates
Henry Louis Gates Jr. in 2006.   (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

The fallout from the Henry Louis Gates arrest continues: A Boston cop has been suspended for referring to Gates as a "jungle monkey" in an email, the Globe reports. Officer Justin Barrett, 36, faces a disciplinary hearing next week and could be fired. He used the phrase while describing media coverage of the arrest to members of the National Guard. The flap comes a day before Gates and arresting officer James Crowley have beers at the White House.

"Commissioner Davis was made aware that Officer Barrett was the author of correspondence which included racially charged language," said a department spokeswoman. "At that time, (he) immediately stripped Officer Barrett of his gun and badge." (More Henry Louis Gates Jr stories.)

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