Globe, BPD Respond to Racist E-mail

Do not expend any energy wondering when Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis and soon-to-be ex-cop Justin Barrett will be meeting for their own beer summit. Trust Bostonist on this because they aren’t meeting to reconcile any time soon after Barrett described Henry Louis Gates and Boston Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham as a “jungle monkey” in an e-mail he actually sent to Abraham after her column about Gates and his recent arrest. Commissioner Davis quickly acted by suspending Barrett and initiating the termination process. Davis asserted Barrett’s due process rights in a public statement on Thursday. Today on Boston.com, Abraham described the e-mail Barrett sent , which she deleted, as “an anonymous rant” that “didn’t even stand out” among

other similarly racist missives sent to her. She said it only caught her attention after his suspension was announced. After reading the e-mail from Barrett , it seems obvious that disciplinary action is required. Barrett’s e-mail is full of racist language like “jungle monkey” and using “ax” in place of “ask”, patronizing comments about Abraham serving Barrett coffee, calling her a ‘hot little bird”, a fool and an “infidel” and threats to slap Abraham and spray Gates “in the face with OC” . Barrett claims to be a former English teacher. The repeated grammar mistakes in the e-mail make Bostonist doubt this claim.

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Globe, BPD Respond to Racist E-mail