Boston Cop Suspended For Gates Racial Slur

A Boston police officer has been suspended for using a racial slur to describe black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Commissioner Edward Davis put 36-year-old Justin Barrett on administrative leave pending a termination hearing after learning of the slur.

A person with knowledge of the case who was not authorized to speak publicly about the details said Barrett, a member of the National Guard, used the racial slur in messages to Guardsmen and to The Boston Globe.

Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct in his home July 16 by a white police officer who was responding to a report of a possible burglary. The case has sparked a national debate on racial profiling. The charge was later dropped.

Barrett and the police union did not immediately respond to requests for comment.