May 7, 2008
Sean Bell Protesters Arrested, Including Sharpton
Photograph of protesters on Varick Street by stconrad on Flickr
Hundreds of people gathered at six different locations in the city to protest the acquittal of three police detectives in the Sean Bell shooting. They blocked traffic at the Queensboro Bridge, Triborough Bridge, Manhttan Bridge, Holland Tunnel, Queens Midtown Tunnel and Brooklyn Bridge, and arrests were made at the Queens Midtown Tunnel and Brooklyn Bridge.
The arrests seem to be because the protesters have been blocking traffic, either forming a human chain or sitting down in front of the bridges. There are delays on the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, while traffic was "momentarily halted" on the Triborough.
At the Brooklyn Bridge, the AP reports the Reverend Al Sharpton, Bell's fiancee Nicole Paultre Bell, Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman (Benefield and Guzman were with Bell during the shooting) were arrested--they "lined up and peacefully put their hands behind their backs as police put plastic handcuffs on them."
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dumb asses
if that picture is any indication, it's a pretty light turnout.
That's a great way to protest the Sean Bell verdict: Take it out on innocent New Yorkers.
Retards...
In Germany they first came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me--and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Pastor Martin Niemoller
Your ignorant comments make me feel sorry for the future of New York...does anyone care about freedom anymore?
Where's Al Sharpton to protest Al Sharpton getting arrested??
But seriously, way to go living up to your claims of "shutting down the city," like you could ever do that. I'm reminded of the bombastic claims of Saddam Hussein during the first Gulf War about how it would be the "mother of all wars" and how he would annihilate us, etc. It's all schoolyard posturing and empty talk.
All you "protesters" did was inconvenience your fellow citizens who actually have jobs and need to commute home. Thanks for that. Maybe you should focus all your pent-up energy on actually revitalizing the communities like the one where this tragedy took place because I don't see you protesting and organizing to clean up neighborhoods that are known for drug dealing and prostitution.
Ok, so 10 out of 10 for style, but minus several million for good thinking, yeah?
...and just in time to make the 5 o'clock news. Good work, Rev Al.
Props to Sharpton for getting arrested for an act of civil disobedience
I thought he was all talk
50 shots = 50 dead cops
Where's al sharpton eh? err. oh, wait.
From the man who brought us Tawana Brawley...
I was outside much of the day and didn't notice this at all. Lamest city shutdown ever.
I see some white ppl in that protest.
"Your ignorant comments make me feel sorry for the future of New York...does anyone care about freedom anymore?"
What freedom are you referring to? that doesn't mean anything.
[5] So just who are "they" coming for right now? I hadn't noticed any systemic, government-sanctioned purges against any groups.
BTW, nice of you to Godwin the comments so early.
#15, you obviously were not black, homeless, or a street artist during the guiliani years.
#16, obviously you were a criminal, druggie or a loser during the Guiliani years.
"Excessive Jheri Curling in a No Jheri Curling Zone."
those poor street artists!
it means nothing to you now because your existence is not being challenged. if you were a poor black man, you would see the world differently. read a few comments on gothamist and there is proof that the anonymous scholars of the blogosphere are a racist majority. in real life they influence the biased way in which people see the world. those cops killed an unarmed man. despite what each side has said, an innocent man is dead. those officers should be jailed. these citizens have every right to protest. there was a time when civil disobedience was respeted as a form of speech. it seems our generation is full of cowards who stand for nothing but what benefits them and against anything that benefits their fellow man.
freedom to assemble. freedom of speech. without justice, there is no possibility for any of us to truly be free. one day they will come for you. i hope someone speaks up before then.
equating blacks and homeless people to street artists?
oh, those poor oppressed street artists, prevented from expressing themselves at the expense of society by damaging property with their colorful tags.
if the cops were shooting street artists, there would be a parade instead of a protest march.
i went to go look at the park/34th street one as its a block away from work. lame turnout, less then 15 people, more cops then protesters
disturbing the peace is counterproductive.
perhaps starting within the black communities and working outward is the best solution... but hey the blame game is easier and Sharpton is a man of least resistance.
Hopefully someone will show Sharpton a good time on Rikers Island.
good for them- and, frankly, it's refreshing to see some civil disobedience in action.
read a few comments on gothamist and there is proof that the anonymous scholars of the blogosphere are a racist majority.
If you read gothamist, you'd know that there are only 2 or 3 resident racists, and that the large majority of anonymous scholars on this site have been supporting Barack Obama.
an innocent man is dead.
that's a question of fact, and none of us know the answer. The judge determined that the police had cause.
those officers should be jailed.
that's your opinion. however, since they haven't been convicted of a crime, jailing them would go against the very freedoms you claim to support.
these citizens have every right to protest.
absolutely. and they are. just not many of them. and I'm enjoying the freedom to comment on that.
there was a time when civil disobedience was respeted as a form of speech.
it still is. but when Al Sharpton is leading the group, protesting a situation where black cops shot a guy with a record who supposedly drove his car into them at 4am, the facts are far from clear, and it's hard to get fired up about it.
it seems our generation is full of cowards who stand for nothing but what benefits them
bullshit. there are 200,000 American soldiers from our generation fighting a war in Iraq that doesn't benefit them at all. They aren't cowards, and while some might argue they shouldn't be there, they aren't doing it out of self interest. I don't see anything so brave or noble about participating in a Sean Bell rally.
freedom to assemble. freedom of speech.
all taking place today. go march if you care.
one day they will come for you.
lol, paranoid lunacy. No one is coming for anyone.
Sean Bell's death was probably, at worst, a case of overzealous use of force by the cops. If the gun statement was real, and if Bell did drive into someone who identified himself as a cop, then force was justified. The facts are murky.
If the state really DOES start coming for people, I'll go to a rally against it. This rally just seems like a tired publicity stunt to get Sharpton a little more free press and based on the turnout, it looks like most people aren't that interested.
To Ohio -- are you a poor black man? Is that how you're able to speak for the oppressed and the persecuted? Or are you just a white person who feels guilty about having racists thoughts and tries to overcompensate by flaunting your self-righteousness in anonymous forums like this? I find that it's my white middle class friends who are so into being "politically-correct" and making sure no one says anything racially degrading about me or other minority friends...when we could really care less.
Like that song ins Avenue Q, "Everyone's just a little bit racist".
Problem is, these people tend to be civil disobedient regardless.
it's refreshing to see some civil disobedience in action.
too bad they don't have a better cause to rally over.
The sad thing about some of the stupid comments on this post is that most don't realize that Al stands up for HUMAN RIGHTS. I don't agree with everything done by him but he stands up for you when your human rights have been violated. So it's ok for cops to shoot at someone 50 times but when Al holds a peaceful and non-violent protest he is a dumbass and gets insults. The sad thing about this board and racist is that it has no logic, its just random ignorant remakes. Al has done more for people then anyone of you stupid asses posting ignorant remarks. Get a life and stop being attention whores internet tough guys. At least Al stands up for something, most of you sit down to piss.
#21, i wasn't equating blacks and homeless with street artists. those were the three groups (the 3 i remember anyway) that Guiliani went after in his batshit crazy effort to "clean up" the city. your comment betrays your ignorance. your transplant roots are showing.
#5: Ohio, You're giving that state a bad name. Perhaps you can find there a good orthopedist who can cure that knee-jerk reaction of yours.
In fact, Niemøller was a one-time member of the Nazi party and an anti-Semite. What he wrote reflected his own life. It wasn't apochryphal.
He was an anti-semite and only changed when he was sent to a concentration camp, you fool!
Niemöller's behaviour in this time is assessed critically and remains a continual subject of controversy.
Professor Werner Cohn states:
"I lived as a Jew under the Nazis in the very years that he [Martin Niemöller] told his Dahlem congregation that we Jews were race aliens, and also that we deserved what we got, having murdered Christ. I lived not too far from his church, and his name was mentioned in my home."[11]
Historians quote from one of Niemöller's sermons in 1935: "What is the reason for [their] obvious punishment, which has lasted for thousands of years? Dear brethren, the reason is easily given: the Jews brought the Christ of God to the cross!" [12]
According to Holocaust scholar Robert Michael, Niemöller agreed with the Nazis' position on the Jewish question.[3] Michael notes:
"These kinds of statements are a result of traditional antisemitism, and beliefs such as these corrupted average people as well as the elite and made them all not just victims of Nazis but active or passive collaborators in the Holocaust."[13]
Perhaps you should go back to Ohio, you effing uneducated, self-important, arrogant, self-righteous little twit.
What or less likely, who is a "street artist"?
Does this count as "street/performance art"? Last year, I saw an utterly spaced out homeless guy, sitting on a broken & discarded chair outside Gristede's on 8th & 50something. It was hot & humid & he wore nothing but red shorts, while vigorously pleasuring himself. Real art, while sitting on a three-legged stool in deep, drunken stupor. LOL
the blame game is easier
they shot him 50 times.
Sharpton is a man of least resistance
he went to jail for his beliefs today.
have been supporting Barack Obama
please. what's not to support.
that's a question of fact
a human life was taken by the NYPD. dispute that.
since they haven't been convicted
cops have been free to kill people of color 4eva.
200,000 American soldiers
this war is based on lies.
Sean Bell's death was probably, at worst, a case of overzealous use of force by the cops
i wish this on someone you know. then tell me how you feel.
how you're able to speak for the oppressed and the persecuted
stop projecting. someone has to speak for those without influence(see Niemoller quote for why).
Everyone's just a little bit racist
doesn't have to be that way. make the world we live in a better place by resisting ignorance.
these people
thank you very much for proving my point.
I WAS THERE! TALK ABOUT SCARY. I was at the rally at Houston and Varick at about 4:15 this afternoon and I must say it was horrific. I came out of the subway and all these cops were standing around not knowing where to go and then there was this wave of protesters, and I almost pissed my pants.
Reality check here. There might have been 150 people in total, 80% white from NYU. It was a two for one. The cops must be laughing their ass off getting double time for this bullshit protest. If Rev AL HAD THE BALLS HE WOULD CALL FOR RIOTS. Against what? Who knows.
I hear that the rev Al is doing Nicole Paultre Bell. She had two kids before her wedding day and she decided that what the fuck's another one.
I love Al Sharpton, seriously. Since I was a toddler, I can remember constantly seeing him on Live at 5, and in every paper. He's one of the best flacks since Ivy Lee and understand the game much better than people give him credit for.
Black leaders in America have never had any success with peaceful civil disobedience, right?
How can you fault the guy for peacefully speaking his mind and voicing dissent? This didn't inconvenience anyone really, and if it did, too bad. I support peoples rights to speak their mind without limit. I don't have an opinion on the morality of the Sean Bell incident, but hey as the MTA loves to tell us, 'If you See Something, Say Something'.
Hi 34,
The acid kicking in 'bout now?
Make sweeping generalizations defending the victimhood of all non-whites: you're morally superior, good-hearted, etc.
Dare to criticize an event you disagree with or simply find lame that happens to be taking place with 1,000' of a black person: you're a racist and society hasn't evolved one day since slavery.
Whatever.
#5 -"..... Then they came for me--but I was too busy playing Grand Theft Auto IV on my High Definition Television that I didn't open the door and they Left".
It's a good thing Sharpton has been arrested. He could lose some weight.
So say the feds cave in to this play for attention and lay charges against the cops. If they are acquitted once again, would that be justice?
Or is it only justice if they are convicted? Or are convictions not enough, do they need to serve jail time also?
So tell us Rev Al, what is "justice"?
One of the biggest problems with the populace that have heritage with the condition known as slavery is that they want more, more and more for a condition that most Americans had nothing to do with. Twenty acres and a mule? My parents never had that much shit dropped on them gratis. Neither did most of the Chinks, Jews or Micks coming into this country who worked to make their life better.
The freed slaved after the Civil War just stopped working because they didn't know what to do and thought the US of A was going to pick up the slack. And they (for a larger percentage than should be accepted) go on and on and on and on with that asshole attitude.
@eyekantspel
A white guy supporting Obama does NOT make him anti-racist. I hate these people walking around saying "oh yeah, the guy who gives me my coffee in the morning is black. See, I totally love black people!". Associating in some way with a [insert minority] does not make you this peace loving and tolerant person. You supporting Obama with some button is not your ticket out of racism, sorry.
and @snoopy
Have you graduated high school yet? Do you even know how to read? Any text book would confirm that you have no grasp of history.
If Sharpton and the rest of his protesters put this effect into sometimes more useful, such as cleaning up the black community from gangs, drugs and shootings then maybe the black community will earn some respect.
Sharpton will probably be out of jail by the end of the week with a fine.
#29 - "a better cause to rally over" ?? So this incident didn't bother you? You must live in a very safe, privileged world - too bad Sean Bell didn't.
@29- it was a tragic event and shitty verdict, all in all an appropriate cause to peacefully rally over.
@23- maybe starting with some better police training would be the best solution?
Before anyone decided to "disturb the peace," they worked with the prosecution and through the legal channels to seek justice. That didn't happen and they are expressing discontent and calling attention to the shitty verdict.
just a peaceful demonstration, why so bothered?
"calling attention to the shitty verdict."
Who the eff are you to call it a 'shitty' verdict? Are you an effing Federal judge? If not, STFU
"just a peaceful demonstration, why so bothered?"
Peaceful? Then why the arrests?
What did hard-working commuters do to deserve to be held up going home to their family and dinner?
They were the real victims!!
You and the others who think Pig Sharpton is legit were obviously not living in NYC in 1987 during the Tawana Brawley controversy. Read up before you speak up
Real NYers know this shyster is a scammer.
how is punishing law abiding commuters justice? I don't get it. That's like if I don't like the return policy of bestbuy I protest at circuit city.
Some clueless turds trolling around here.
#50, agreed, other #'s +/-.
This is NYC, guys.
Political theater, a little spice to the day-to-day. Hell, Rev Al has always been less of an inconvenience than the Tribeca FF, but just about as entertaining. You can't handle a little 1st Amendment display with some media grandstanding? Everybody's gotta get their face time, Al, Bell, NYPD, Ray-Ray, NY1, Just a blip.
Helluva lotta less impact than the recent N-Train derailment. Shoot, You shoulda seen NYC in the 60s & 70s in NYC.
You wanna live in "The Big City", grow some cojones & stop whining. You're on one side, get out there & protest, & make it loud. You're on the other, ignore it, it's gone tomorrow.
Unlike the lines at Shake Shack.
Dadoc
Like Bob Grant used to say, Sharpton is a phony and a fraud and real New Yorkers, eyekantspel, Spirotof76, edEx, Spear Chucker, berniegoetz, babyhitler, and Snoopy seem to know this. Thank you for your comments.
Ohio - piss of, douche.
Emily Dickinson, I loved Live at Five and recall those sermons and agree he knows the game and have sometimes been amused by the Rev, but I feel today - his whole agenda - is wrong, and he should be held to task for tramping on the accused. I believe there is some grander conspiracy he is involved and have several times heard it said he is a government rat cooperating with the feds.
Today was not merely an inconvenience. Most cops assigned this mess and given this assignment, were likely scared shitless. For what? $50k? Hats off to them for handling things as professional as ever. They are the best and deserve better than some of the inflammatory comments herein. Thanks, as always, NYPD.
The Sean Bell incident should not rally the masses, and it will not. A select group of alder people will examine what happened and figure out what protocols and procedure should change so that the next time an innocent man on his Wedding Day drunkenly leaves a strippers and hookers bar located in a shitty nabe with a drunk and drugged gang of friends woofing talk of gunplay violence at 4 a.m. and thereafter rams his car into a police officer whom has never not once ever fired his gun, that innocent man does not get killed.
the gothamist hall of fame list ^^^
God Bless You Reverend Al Sharpton,
you keep doing what you're doing.
Your Heart is in the right place.
Ouch #52, you almost dragged me into the "innocent" thing. The NYPD members are not scared shitless. The folks that do that job are OK, and can handle just about anything. Their leadership, always over-