The Cambridge Police Department has released the 911 tapes in the Henry Louis Gates case. Gates is the African American Harvard scholar arrested inside his own home after police responded to a report of a possible breaking and entering at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On the 911 call, the woman told the dispatcher she saw two men try to barge into a home, but said she had no idea if the two men were breaking in. She did not say that either of the men were black. One of the men turned out to be Gates trying to get into his own house.

Caller: “It’s 17 Ware Street. It’s a house. It’s a yellow house. Number 17. I don’t know if they live there and they just had a hard time with their key, but I did notice that they had to use their shoulder to try to barge in, and they got in. I don’t know if they had a key or not, ’cause I couldn’t see from my angle. But, you know, when I looked a little closely, that’s when I saw —”

Dispatcher: “They were white, black or Hispanic? Are they still in the house?”

Caller: “They’re still in the house, I believe, yeah.”

Dispatcher: “Are they white, black or Hispanic?”

Caller: “Well, there were two larger men. One looked kind of Hispanic, but I’m not really sure.”