Powell blames Gates for alleged racial incident

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. is at fault over an alleged racial incident that happened outside his Cambridge, Massachusetts, home.



Powell says Gates could have been more patient with the police officer that arrested him.



At the same time Powell blames the Cambridge (Massachusetts) Police Department for escalating the situation beyond a reasonable level.



He says there’s no African-American in the county who hasn’t been exposed to a racial situation.



However, he maintains that the goal isn’t to get angry and manifest that anger.



Gates, a top African-American scholar, was arrested for disorderly conduct outside his Cambridge, Massachusetts, home after police responded to a report of a possible burglary.



The charge was later dropped.