Family Life

07.29.09 | FL News Team

(Cambridge, MA) -- Lucia Whalen says she has been threatened and called a racist since making her 911 call to Cambridge, Massachusetts, police that gained national attention.  She made the call that ended up leading to the arrest of black Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates at his home for disorderly conduct.

At a news conference today, Whalen was emotional in thanking her family and others who have shown her support since police released a tape of her 911 call earlier this week.

Whalen said she made that call after an older woman stopped her on a Cambridge street saying two men were trying to force their way into a nearby house.  It turned out the home belonged to one of the men in question, Professor Henry Louis Gates. 

Gates became angry when police arrived at his house and asked for his identification.  The Harvard scholar called Sergeant James Crowley a racist and ended up being arrested for disorderly conduct, a charge that was later dropped.

Last week, President Obama admitted he had used a poor choice of words regarding the Gates incident by saying on national television that Cambridge police had acted "stupidly" in the incident.  The President has invited Gates and Crowley to the White House tomorrow night.