April 26, 2008
Protest, Anger Over Sean Bell Verdict
Photograph of protesters in Jamaica, Queens by Jason DeCrow/AP
Last night, hundreds of people marched from the Queens courthouse to the Kalua Lounge, the strip club where Sean Bell was killed on his wedding day, yelling, "Fifty shots equal murder," to protest yesterday's not guilty verdict for three police officers charged in the shooting.
Bell's mother, Valerie, fainted when Judge Arthur Cooperman delivered the verdict, amid tears from Bell's fiance Nicole Paultre Bell and angry words from supporters (outside the courthouse, they yelled "Murderers!" and "KKK!"). His father, William Bell, said, "The judge spit in my damn face, but I knew it was coming," and told WABC 7, "It's a slap in the face and a kick in the ass."
The three detectives--who spoke publicly for the first time after the verdict--are now relegated to desk jobs without their guns as the NYPD will examine their actions--and any case from the U.S. Attorney's office would probably precede that. Many legal experts think their decision to opt for a bench trial, versus a jury trial, helped them--as did the issues with the prosecutions' witnesses' testimonies.
The city's three big papers weighed in with editorials: The Daily News accepts the verdict as "a fair exercise in the law" but feels that Detectives Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora, and Marc Cooper and their supervisors should be dismissed from the NYPD. The Post thinks it was the "right verdict," especially given the evidence. And the NY Times found the verdict "stunning in its thorough absolution of the officers" and suggests "carelessness and incompetence in the behavior of the police officers...must be corrected as a matter of public policy."
The Reverend Al Sharpton promised to engage in "nonviolent civil disobedience," and said, "They expect us to react in traditional ways; they will not get that. We are going to engage in economic withdrawal. We are going to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience." Sharpton, though, also encouraged people to protest and get arrested, "whether it is on Wall Street, the judge’s house or at 1 Police Plaza.”
But Sharpton also pointed out, “People with records do not lose their right to not be shot by police," and feels a federal case should proceed. Detectives Endowment Association head Michael Palladino still criticized Bell's friends who were wounded in the shooting and testified in the trial and said, "We have been portrayed as insensitive murderers. And I can tell you that we are not.”
Bell's fiancee and the mother of his two children, Nicole Paultre Bell, had fled the courtroom in tears after the verdict. She later said, "April 25, 2008: They killed Sean all over again," and added, "I’m still praying for justice."
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From Sharpton to Nicole it makes me laugh at this story. Sharpton should go into his own black community and stop the gangs and criminal lifestyle.
Sean Bell being a father and a role model for his children? NO WAY!! It probably would be raising them with the drugs and gangsta lifestyle.
Don't be involved with the law and don't hang out in sleazy strip club and these things wouldn't happen to you, which is what the black fail to do.
I think the verdict is unacceptable and unfair but what I don't get is protesters turning this into a race thing. Can someone please explain to me the "kkk" comment? The three officers involved were minorties themselves- correct? African American, Hispanic and another of middle eastern decent, right? Al Sharpton is an idiot and a poor role model for young urban blacks or anyone. Really sad all around.
@meowster:
I think the verdict is unacceptable
Oh, were you there that night?
The case was presented in a court of law with evidence & witnesse and hundreds of hours of testimony. An experienced jurist felt that there was not a proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers commited the offenses they were charged with. This is our judicial system.
What more do you want?
i agree with the verdict...this isn't a humanitarian we are talking about here...
oh and when a cop says "stop" you STOP. don't ram your car into him or start firing a gun.
idiots.
I don't see how anyone can argue that because two of the three officers were black, that race was not an issue. Of course race was an issue. Unjust Police brutality on the black populous is well documented in this city and should not be ignored.
If Sean Bell was White I have no doubt in my mind that he may be living today. Even black officers have preconceived notions about their own race. To quote Avenue Q, Everyone's a little bit Racist.
I don't see how anyone can argue that because two of the three officers were black, that race was not an issue.
It's called Black on Black crime. It's the first time Sharpton had gotten involved in a Black on Black crime. We should applaud him!
I can understand protesting just to release the anger over the unfortunate and unknown circumstances that led to this man's death.
But what is the point in protesting the verdict? We're supposed to have faith in our trial system. It came down to evidence, and a reasonable down as to whether these cops intentionally, criminally, decided to shoot an unarmed man. I think, from the evidence I've seen, the trial went the way it should, without undue prejudice. It was fair.
Had the cops been deemed guilty, then there wouldn't be an issue with those protesting. It doesn't work that way - it comes down to evidence and testimony. And a great deal of the prosecution's testimony came from convicted criminals. Sorry, but you have less credibility if you've been to Rikers.
I do think that the evidence proves that these cops were careless, irresponsible, and overzealous. They should definitely have a trial to address this, to prevent more tragic events like this one happening again.
Sharpton is trapped and obligated to say what he is saying. Yeah, another one for the mobs... Al.
For the next 3 dozen commenters, who will not bother checking out the details.
----
"Bell, 23, went to a strip club for an impromptu bachelor party the night before his wedding. The cops were undercover in the club as part of a drive against quality-of-life offenses, such as prostitution and drug sales.
No one set out to commit a crime that night. No one set out to shoot anyone. But then the cops picked up signs that someone in the club was armed with a gun.
Then, according to testimony, there was a confrontation between Bell's group and a man on the street who gave the impression he had a weapon.
Then, according to testimony, one of Bell's friends said he was going to get a gun.
Then Bell's group walked around the corner to his car. The cops followed. Possibly believing he faced attack by a dangerous civilian, Bell attempted to drive away. The car struck Isnora. Isnora opened fire, followed by Oliver, Cooper and other cops who weren't indicted.
Police are permitted to shoot when they reasonably believe their lives are in danger. Under the law, the DA had the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Oliver, Isnora and Cooper had no good cause to believe they were mortally threatened."
----
If blacks started to clean up their community and stop the violence just maybe people wouldn't have preconceived notions about them.
I'll bet business at the Kalua Lounge is really booming.
Yeah, maybe if Bell was white, this would not have happened, but really, how many white guys do you see around doing stupid things like Bell and friends did? Racial profiling is rampant, but there's probably a reason for that. And if people are going to argue that blacks turn to violence because of the unjust racist society and blah blah blah, then how come other minorities seem to find other ways to get by like, oh..I don't know.. hard work and not hiding behind a sense of entitlement.
The Reverend Al Sharpton promised to engage in "nonviolent civil disobedience," and said, "They expect us to react in traditional ways; they will not get that. We are going to engage in economic withdrawal. We are going to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience."
KFC and Popeyes are gonna take a heavy blow this second quarter should Al Sharpton's promise come to fruition.
It seems a just verdict, given the facts presented. Bell was hard of hearing, at least that is something that came out during the trial. He MAY not have heard the PO shout. And he did see someone that was involved in a confrontation with friends pull out a gun. Not a bad reason to ram him w/a car.
This is round 1. No one wins. Lots of losers. The cops will lose their jobs and possibly still face a civil trial.
And Sharpton is not going away...
Steven,
In response to your comments:
"Don't be involved with the law and don't hang out in sleazy strip club and these things wouldn't happen to you, which is what the black fail to do."
"If blacks started to clean up their community and stop the violence just maybe people wouldn't have preconceived notions about them."
I'm sorry. You're a sick man.
There was no jury, folks. The case was decided by a single judge.
let's remember what Steven wrote here,
"For one I'm happy the NYPD killed this thug."
There was an interesting comment yesterday on NY1 by a cop who was promptly cut off, but his gist was that there is a lot of money to be made in this.
He said there will likely be a huge settlement by the Police Benevolent Association within hours of the verdicts and that the lawyers who were hand-picked by Sharpton would be getting a large sum from their cut of the settlement. I'm sure they will turn around kick some of that back to Sharpton.
It seems there's a lot of $$$ to be made from this "racial ambulance chasing".
On the last point by skowen, it should not surprise anyone if Sharpton gets a cut of any settlement funds. I would love to see the feds investigate him and Sanford Rubinstein. I would also love if the City shows some balls and does not settle, but makes the civil case go the distance. The cops involved have suffered tremendously and never should have been indicted in the first place. However they were and have been exonerated. The system worked. Justice served.
The media really needs to stop paying any attention to all of these thug worshiping fanatics.
The NY Times had an article today about how most people - including those of African ethnicity (I think it's presumptuous to assume all black people are African-American) were shrugging this verdict off both in terms of race and in terms of police brutality. Many said it did not resemble the Diallo shooting all that much.
4 white cokehead stockbrokers in a limo outside of scores would not get the same agressive treatment even if they had called ray kelly himself and faxed over their rap sheet...
50 shots = 50 dead cops!
Poor disappointed lynch mob. Regardless of what may or may not have happened, the "friends" of Sean Bell who testified for the prosecution are more responsible for this verdict than the judge. One person testified to hearing Bell's last words even though his vocal chords had been severed in the firefight; another basically fessed up to giving false testimony just after the incident and then expected the court to believe him the second time when his story didn't match.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/25/sunny.bell/?iref=mpstoryview
The cops also had discrepancies on their side.
The judge never made any mention of this.
Listen to the Daily New's Errol Louise's statements made on NY1's reporters roundtable. He was inside the courtroom from the beginning.
from the Daily News,
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2008/04/26/2008-04-26_its_our_duty_to_protest_bell_decision.html
LOL. Yes, only a sick man would expect people to act responsibly and not to commit crimes.
Is this Vanessa or Al Sharpton?
In response to your comments:
"Don't be involved with the law and don't hang out in sleazy strip club and these things wouldn't happen to you, which is what the black fail to do."
"If blacks started to clean up their community and stop the violence just maybe people wouldn't have preconceived notions about them."
I'm sorry. You're a sick man.
Those Racist Black Cops! LOL
Quick question. Does anyone know how many Africans were brought over and put into slavery? And an estimate of how many had children that became slaves due to the former situation known as slavery which was abolished nearly a hundred and fifty years ago or ten generations?
Wesley Snipes was targeted because he was black. What's a brother gots to do before he could rob a bank quietly and steal from the elderly?
Dear Jackoff,
The police supervisor testified that he did not hear the men identify themselves but as the cross-examination reminded people, that doesn't PROVE they didn't do it. It only means that he didn't hear them do it.
As with the uniformed officers who say they didn't see badges, again, that doesn't PROVE they weren't there. All it proves is that these men didn't see badges. Walking into a hysterical crime scene such as this, who would expect them to look for badges?
These are considerably different "inconsistencies" than witnesses claiming to hear a man with no vocal chords speak, a convicted crack dealer who admitted he made up his first testimony and THEN expected everyone to believe his second, etc.
Sean Bell's "friends" were either poorly prepped by the prosecutors or simply decided to go freestyle on the stand and dropped the ball. The burden of proof was on the prosecution and was not met mainly because of all these flaky witnesses and their contradictory statements. The prosecution failed to PROVE the cops wrong and that's why they walked.
Now Now Now. The witnesses for the prosecution were there on the night of the crime and they distinctly heard Bell recite Martin Luther King's " I have a dream speech." The cops unfortunately didn't hear same and opened fire. Oliver thought it was a slur on the Lebanese men's ability to procreate.
Oh, bernie the nut lover, so you were in the courtroom? you do know you're arguing with a me, right? it's useless and will only get your BP level up.
oops, forgot.
thankfully Pb is still cheap unless they start rationing it.
Actually JackOff I'm stuck at work with nothing to do so I am actually getting paid to argue with you.
like I care, of course, you're not working.
we all know that.
how's them nuts?
I agree with TJ, above.
As someone said at a press conference after the verdict: "Justice is for everyone, even police officers."
You may not agree with the verdict, but I doubt any of us are in any position to judge.
It's really a tragedy all around. For the family of Sean Bell, for the police officers and their families...Their lives are pretty messed up now, too... there is no such thing as getting off "scott-free" in a situation like this.
Al is keeping his eye on the prize. Civil suits. He is concerned the bucks will now be smaller. And they may be.
9 blacks were killed in gang violence in Chicago in the last 7 days. Still waiting for the anti-violence demonstrations.
did the riots start yet?
Because cops feel like they can just go out and shoot to death anyone they feel like, ordinary people should do likewise with the cops. They only understand violence.
Hey, in case anyone didn't notice, the judge did say the cops were incompetent and careless. Being that they were supposed to be competently protecting the public (I never heard of the Incompetent branch of the Police Force), I call that a guilty verdict with no sentence.
And for everyone who says "were you there? how would you know?" etc, stick it in your ears. One doesn't have to have been there to know that 50 shots was excessive.
And one doesn't have to even be a cop hater to be disgusted with Oliver's behavior after the killing. He should be sentenced to live with his real eyebrows for the rest of his life (he obviously man-plucks).
what the hell are you talking about slavery? You know P Diddy and Oprah Winfrey are praying to god every night that their mother's mother's mother was working in the fields cause now they are loaded. If they stayed in africa they'd be getting raped by the somali's and living in grass huts.
So all the blacks are gonna participate in "massive civil disobedience" to "shut [NY] down"? Is this done by not working? Or working slowly? If so, haven't they been engaging in "massive civil disobedience" for quite some time now?
wait so that asian girl wasnt raped or mugged during the protest?
Was that MLK/Sharpton pic planned or coinkydink?
that's more like a MLK/ORANGUTAN pic.
This comments is for "steven"
what is so humorous about a grieving wife and mother? About people being fed up with the fact that the police can go into certain communities and do whatever they want with any repercussions? how dare you laugh about this. And by saying that Reverend Al Sharpton should go into his own communities" shows how ignorant you really are. Not only that but it is reminicient of the Back to Africa protest people as yourself have made for decades. that the solution to the plight of black is to view it as totally seperate fromt the rest of the world and that the the problem is not a result of the outside enviroment!
Sean bell's lifestyle wasn't what was on trail, his lifestyle was irrevalent and unknown to the police while they shot at him and his friends 50 times. All they know was that they were black but I suppose that 's a crime in itself to you right. You are so focussed on the fact that he was a black man who may or may not have been a gangster and not focussed on the fact that he was indeed an INNOCENT man with no guns in his vehicle.
Then you went on to say "Don't be involved with the law and don't hang out in sleazy strip club and these things wouldn't happen to you, which is what the black fail to do." How racist and totally bigotted are you, exactly, that you can even write that and not think twice about it. As if blacks people are the only people who hang out at strip bars. As if every black person should have to watch their backs for police who are waiting to put 50 shots into them with everything they do. As if being black takes away your entitlement to enjoy yourself. That's preposterous really! And furthermore despite what you think, not all black people hangout in sleazy places, that's just your distorted, narrow minded view of us. You so infuriated me I had to respond. You are just sad as well as saddening and I really do pray for people like you.