Long Branch Police Question Bob Dylan as 'Suspicious Person'

   Bob Dylan was stopped by Long Branch police last month while walking in the rain with a hooded shirt. Asked for ID, he didn't have it but walked back to his tour bus with police. 

  Bloggers bring out the race issue, praising Dylan for his politeness, yet decrying Gates for his fury as he was arrested in his living room. Regardless of how you see it, you should look at the person's state of mind. Sure, Gates may have overreacted, but he just got back from a long plane trip and was locked out of his home. Dylan was simply taking a leisurely stroll. Don't knock the police for doing their jobs.

   The comparisons between Dylan's and Gates' interaction with police in these instances are like apples and oranges. It's not about race. Let the police do their jobs before crying out that the black man overreacted because he's black and cries racism but the white man remained calm. 

   Even more interesting are the following quotes from bloggers at nj.com:

Mityfine2009: "I think Bob was just looking for a song. Think about it. Long Branch has its emminent domain issues, fancy beachfront property, crooked politicians, high crime rate, gangs & illegal immigrants. It is a tale of 2 cities. Bob may have never been here before & wanted to check it out. He was probably curious about Bruce too & his long ago roots in LB. He's not afraid of the down & out - never was. And this is why he's good at being incognito. He always laughed at the establishment & sang of society's ills. His roots run deep into folk and blues - he electrified it back then & brought it into the future. That's why he is a legend today - like him or not." whopays:

"Strange comments. We should be happy when police protect the neighborhood. Unfortunately, some people distrust any police activity and assume the worse both of the officer and of anyone the police try to help.

In recent days, several people have told me that they have found themselves questioned by law enforcement officers while walking. In many NJ communities, "walking" is viewed as suspect behavior. Most answered the officer's questions and more or less made a new friend.

I do not know why Mr. Dylan strolled through Long Branch. Back when walking was not a strain for me, I enjoyed just walking through older towns - just looking at the buildings. As with Perth Amboy, Trenton, Elizabeth, Atlantic City, Long Branch may hold many marvels of construction - some hidden in "less desirable" neighborhood. I remember telling someone about a certain building in Plainfield only to be met with warnings about walking through such a dangerous, drug infested, "slum" (not the term I would have used). Stupidity and fear keep my associate from seeing an rather interesting piece of architecture." 

citizen66:

"Considering his history of having an iconoclastic nature and escaping the overbearing media, it's not hard to imagine him wanting to take an hour away from managers, bodyguards, roadies, stage crews, et. al. He's always been that way, going way back to his days of walking around Greenwich Village in the 60's. It was not unusual for him to show up alone somewhere you'd never expect. He's a totally different breed than today's icons, who constantly find themselves ambushed by the media coming out of clubs & restaurants. If he were The President, he'd probably be giving the Secret Service the slip, too. Maybe he knew the Long Branch neighborhood, maybe not. Maybe he was looking up an old friend. Who knows? I suspect when Dylan's ready to give it all up for good, he'll just go out for a walk and keep on walking as far as he can; and like much of what he's said and done during his 45-50 years as a poet & musician, people will still be asking 'why?", and "what did you mean by this & that?" He's probably smiling right now & shaking his head wondering "why" all the fuss. Geez, let the man go out for some air once in awhile."