Family Life

07.28.09 | FL News Team

The Cambridge, Massachusetts officer and Harvard University professor entangled in a controversy after the scholar's arrest will meet with President Obama at the White House. Bloomberg.com cites an administration official as saying Obama will bring professor Henry Gates, Jr and police sergeant James Crowley together this Thursday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting hasn't been officially announced, said the three men will meet at 6 p.m. Both Gates and Crowley have embraced the idea. It came from a telephone call last week between Obama and Crowley, who arrested Gates earlier this month after a confrontation on the the professor's property. Police were called to Gates' home after he was mistaken for someone attempting to break in to the house.

Obama, who has called Gates a friend, triggered a controversy July 22nd when he commented that Cambridge police "acted stupidly" in arresting Gates on a disorderly conduct charge. The charge was later dropped. Obama later called both Gates and Crowley and said he should have "calibrated" his words more carefully. He also noted the incident could serve as a "teachable moment" on race relations in the U.S. Gates is black and Crowley is white.