Barrett said that he was "off duty from the Boston Police Department, at a private home and using a privately owned computer" when he sent "remarks that were interpreted as racist and sexist" to Yvonne Abraham at the Globe. Barrett took issue with what he claimed was Abraham's biased account of what happened when Cambridge police Sergeant James Crowley arrived at the Gates residence in response to a report of a suspected burglary. Gates later said that the door was jammed and that he and his driver were trying to open it. A witness saw the apparent break-in and called the police, said Weinberg Law Firm, Texas Labor Lawyer.