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Protests Planned Following Sean Bell Case
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Angered by the acquittal of three police officers who shot and killed a man on his wedding day, supporters plan protests in New York City.
30-Second Summary
Bell’s family held a meeting in a Manhattan union hall Tuesday night with hundreds of supporters, including Rev. Al Sharpton, to organize a “massive show of civil disobedience aimed at shutting the city down,” reports The New York Daily News.
Bell’s father, William Bell, said that any protests will be peaceful, however.
Anger among Bell supporters has been brewing since Friday’s acquittal of the three detectives who killed the groom-to-be on his wedding day in 2006. After the verdict was announced, many people outside the courthouse began weeping. Others displayed anger, instead, shouting “Murderers!”
Bell, 23, was killed by undercover police officers outside a strip club in Queens, N.Y., on Nov. 25, 2006, as he was leaving his bachelor party with two friends. The officers fired 50 shots at Bell and his friends after reportedly hearing one of them mention a gun, although no weapons were ever found.
Two of the officers were later charged with manslaughter and a third with reckless endangerment.
Their acquittal brings to mind other police shootings, like the 1999 Amadou Diallo case. The African immigrant was killed in a barrage of 41 bullets when police officers mistook his wallet for a gun.
Bell’s father, William Bell, said that any protests will be peaceful, however.
Anger among Bell supporters has been brewing since Friday’s acquittal of the three detectives who killed the groom-to-be on his wedding day in 2006. After the verdict was announced, many people outside the courthouse began weeping. Others displayed anger, instead, shouting “Murderers!”
Bell, 23, was killed by undercover police officers outside a strip club in Queens, N.Y., on Nov. 25, 2006, as he was leaving his bachelor party with two friends. The officers fired 50 shots at Bell and his friends after reportedly hearing one of them mention a gun, although no weapons were ever found.
Two of the officers were later charged with manslaughter and a third with reckless endangerment.
Their acquittal brings to mind other police shootings, like the 1999 Amadou Diallo case. The African immigrant was killed in a barrage of 41 bullets when police officers mistook his wallet for a gun.
Headline Link: Bell family and supporters organize
“There will be several actions within the next 10 days,” said Sharpton at Tuesday’s meeting. “These policemen should know they have not, I repeat not, closed this case.” Meeting participants said that, since the acquittal, committees have been formed and plans made for a boycott of city businesses and a march on the Justice Department.
Source: New York Daily News
Background: The shooting, the verdict and the aftermath
The NYPD commissioner stayed quiet following the fatal November 2006 shooting about whether the actions of his officers were justified. The officers, who were undercover investigating weapons and prostitution complaints at a club in Queens, shot at a car full of men when one of the policeman said he heard one of the men say “Yo, go get my gun.” No weapon was found on the men, however.
Source: WABC
Following the verdict, Bell’s fiancée immediately walked out of the room and his mother began weeping. Officer Michael Oliver, who fired the most shots during the incident, also began crying.
Source: MSNBC
The mood leading up to the verdict in the Sean Bell case was muted compared to the Diallo case, reported CNN: “The mood has been tempered by several factors. Racial tensions in the city are low compared with the Diallo era, when then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani had poor relations with the black community. And in the Bell case, two of the officers are black, making it less racially lopsided.”
Source: CNN
Opinion & Analysis: Implications of the case
Tom Robbins of The Village Voice analyzes what Bell’s legacy should be. The Bell case, which involved a black man being shot by policeman, raises many of the same questions as the Diallo case, and all the cases in which perpetrators have done no wrong. Robbins writes that “we will never escape the cycle of suspicion and recrimination until some new and believable system of law enforcement for these cases is created and applied.” A “permanent, independent prosecutor to handle police crimes” is the answer, he says.
Source: The Village Voice
New York Magazine featured a thorough story on the Bell shooting and its lasting implications in February. The story included details about Bell’s young life: “Ever since he was 6 and belted his first home run, Sean Bell thought of himself as a baseball star—and for a while, at least, it seemed he might become one. The son of a hospital-worker mother and mechanic father, Bell took a city bus from his South Jamaica home two neighborhoods away so that he could play for the best high-school team in the area: John Adams, in Ozone Park.”
Source: New York Magazine
Related Topics: Amadou Diallo
Court TV has a chronology of the Amadou Diallo shooting. The 22-year-old street peddler was unarmed and had no criminal record when he was shot by four white police officers in plainclothes on Feb. 4, 1999. The four officers were acquitted of all charges a year later. Over 1,000 people were arrested during a month of rallies that followed the case.
Source: Court TV
Diallo’s death inspired many reactions. The Amadou Diallo Foundation, Inc., was formed “to promote racial healing through activities, including programs in schools that seek to diminish prejudice and racial conflicts and enhance police–community relations,” according to the group’s Web site.
Source: The Amadou Diallo Foundation, Inc.
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