Three weeks after being officially fired from the NYPD without his pension for his role in the fatal shooting of Sean Bell, Gescard Isnora is speaking out. In an interview with NBC New York, he said, "I'm not looking back, no apologies, no regrets. I came to grips with what I did. I am able to sleep at night. I am here talking to you." more ›

On Monday, NYPD chronicler Leonard Levitt (who is feared by the NYPD brass) reported, "An NYPD informant spied on the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network [NAN] as the group was organizing large-scale protests of the Sean Bell case acquittals, a police document shows. The confidential informant infiltrated a NAN meeting on May 3, 2008, and reported back to the NYPD's Intelligence Division, according to a document marked 'secret,' which was obtained by NYPD Confidential. The informant had attended the NAN meeting a week after a Queens judge had acquitted three detectives of the fatal 50-shot killing of Bell and the wounding of two of his friends in November, 2006." more ›

Yesterday brought speculation that the fiancee of the Queens man shot and killed by police before his wedding might run for the City Council seat left vacant with Councilman Thomas White's death. At White's funeral, Nicole Paultre Bell told the Daily News, "One thing that Tom White did tell me sitting in his office is the only way you can make change is getting involved, so I'll keep that in mind." more ›

A lawyer said that the city's $3.25 million payment to settle the wrongful death lawsuit of Sean Bell, who was killed in a hail of 50 bullets hours before his wedding, was the largest payout for a police shooting. According to Newsday, "The Bell settlement in the Brooklyn federal court case topped recoveries by Amadou Diallo ($3 million), Ousmane Zongo ($3 million) and Patrick Dorismond ($2 million), three other men who died in notorious police shooting cases in the city." more ›

A police officer involved in the 2006 shooting of Sean Bell, the Queens man who was killed in a barrage of police bullets hours before his wedding, is now suing Bell's estate. The Post reports, "Police Officer Michael Carey's lawsuit says Bell was boozed-up when he got behind the wheel of the car after his bachelor party on Nov. 25, 2006, and also claims the doomed groom failed to wear glasses or contact lenses despite having poor eyesight." more ›

It's official. Mayor Bloomberg has signed into effect a controversial street renaming that will honor an unarmed man who was gunned down by police in a barrage of 50 bullets on the day of his wedding. more ›

While the naming of three blocks in Queens after police shooting victim Sean Bell is scheduled to take place next month, apparently that's not soon enough for some community activists. The City Council approved the street naming earlier this week, but, according to the Post, Rev. Omar Wilks said, "We are here to say that as a community who loved Sean Bell, who struggled, who protested ... for Sean Bell, we're not going to wait for the mayor to sign off on his approval. The community, we are going to take charge and the community's going to put a street name up for Sean Bell." Mayor Bloomberg has said he will sign "Sean Bell Way" into effect; the Post adds that a mayoral spokesman "said it is illegal to rename a street without city approval." more ›

Opponents of the proposal to rename a three-block stretch of Liverpool Street after Sean Bell — a 23-year-old who was killed by police in a barrage of bullets on his wedding day — continued to lash out against the plan even after City Council voted overwhelmingly to approve it yesterday. "A City Council that places a man who nearly ran over police officers in the same category as heroes who risk their lives for us all every day needs to no longer have the authority to do street renamings," said Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-Staten Island), who according to the Post voted early in the meeting and left in protest. more ›

City Council overwhelmingly approved a plan to rename the street where police shot and killed Sean Bell, voting 41-7 (with two abstentions) in favor of the proposal, according to a Council insider. The decision clears the way for converting a three-block-long Queens strip into "Sean Bell Way" to honor the 23-year-old who died in a salvo of police bullets on the day of his wedding. more ›

Last spring, Queens Community Board 12 voted to re-name a street after Sean Bell, the 23-year-old groom who was killed in a hail of bullets three years ago by police, and yesterday it was approved by a City Council committee as part of 70 new street names. The City Council is set to vote on the proposal on Monday and it's sparking some controversy among representatives and officials who oppose the implications of the naming. more ›

On November 25, 2006, groom-to-be Sean Bell and his friends were leaving the Kalua nightclub in Queens when undercover police confronted them. In the ensuing confusion (the police thought the men were armed or were retrieving a gun, uncertainty over whether the police identified themselves and whether Bell and his friends thought they were being carjacked) five undercover cops fired 50 times at Bell's car. His friends were wounded and Bell, who was to be married the next day, was killed. Earlier this morning, his family, friends, and supporters held a vigil marking the second anniversary of his death. While three police officers were found not guilty in April, Bell's family has met with federal authorities, who may pursue a civil rights case. The Reverend Al Sharpton said, "They've assured them they were doing a full investigation. We don't know what the outcome will be but ... the family is still demanding justice in this matter." more ›

The Jamaica, Queens nightclub that Sean Bell went to before being fatally killed by police gunfire had finally been closed, if only temporarily. Authorities, from the police department (performing stings) and State Liquor Authority (which stripped it of its license), and the community tried to shut it down but it was done in by mice that the Health Department found. The Post reports a sign simply says the club is under renovations. more ›

Last night, the Reverend Al Sharpton participated in the monthly Critical Mass rally and bike ride. In his introduction of Sharpton, civil rights lawyer Wylie Stecklow noted Sharpton's relentless fight for civil rights and against unfair police practices. Stecklow also pointed out the Sharpton-led May 7 civil disobedience event was much more peaceful and was actually , compared to what many Critical Mass riders have experienced (the police didn't use orange fences to contain protesters, actually stopped traffic, made repeated warnings they would start arresting people, and processed the 200+ arrestees relatively quickly). more ›

more ›

Though acquitted of criminal charges in a bench trial last month, the three detectives involved in the fatal 2006 shooting of Sean Bell will face police department disciplinary charges. Four other officers involved with the shooting, supervising the undercover operation and working on the crime scene were also charged. more ›

Two hundred sixteen people were arrested during pray-ins protesting the acquittals of three police detectives in the shooting of Sean Bell. The NY Times called the demonstrations "carefully orchestrated," as hundreds of (perhaps a thousand) people gathered at six different locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, blocking traffic and attracting arrest. more ›

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. more ›

Today at 3 p.m., six pray-ins are planned around Manhattan and Brooklyn to protest the Sean Bell shooting verdict. The Reverend Al Sharpton is leading the events and has said he and other participants are willing to be arrested to make a point about the acquittals of the three police detectives who helped fire a total of 50 shots at the unarmed Bell on November 25, 2006. Sharpton said, "If you are not going to lock up the guilty in this town, then I guess you'll have to lock up the innocent." more ›

Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers visited the site where Sean Bell was fatally shot by police officers. He was accompanied by people including Bell's friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, who were also fired at, and the Reverend Al Sharpton. more ›

The Reverend Al Sharpton is planning a series of rallies and acts of civil disobedience in the wake of the acquittals of three police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Sean Bell. Bell, who was a few hours from his wedding, was unarmed when undercover police fired at him 50 times outside a Queens strip club on November 25, 2008. more ›

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. more ›

Detectives Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper, who were acquitted of all charges in the Sean Bell shooting trial, spoke at a press conference this afternoon. Detectives Oliver and Isnora thanked Judge Cooperman for his "fair" decision (Isnora also, per City Room, "thanked God, his family, his lawyers"). Detective Cooper, who was only charged with reckless endangerment, said, "I'd like to say sorry to the Bell family for the tragedy." None of the detectives testified during the trial, as their grand jury testimony had been read aloud by the prosecution. more ›

Update: Queens DA Dick Brown just held a press conference with his prosecution team to discuss Judge Cooperman's not guilty verdict in the Sean Bell shooting trial. While many fault the prosecution's case against the three cops as the reason for its outcome, Brown defended the work of everyone involved in the case, stressing the amount of time and effort put into preparing the best prosecution possible. more ›

Tomorrow morning at 9 a.m., Judge Arthur Cooperman is expected to announce a verdict for the three police officers on trial for the shooting of Sean Bell. more ›

The Reverend Al Sharpton held a press conference on the steps of City Hall today to discuss the Sean Bell shooting trial verdict, which will be announced on Friday. Sharpton said an acquittal would not be justice. more ›

Lawyers made closing arguments in the Sean Bell shooting trial today to Judge Arthur Cooperman, who is presiding over the bench trial. Defense lawyers argued that the police officers on trial were acting in self-defense. more ›

Yesterday, a doctor who treated police shooting victim Joseph Guzman was the prosecution's last witness, detailing how Guzman was riddled with bullets. Guzman's friend, Sean Bell, was killed in the gunfire, and two undercover detectives face manslaughter charges while another faces reckless endangerment charges for the shooting. more ›

in a hail of police gunfire. In recalling the man holding a gun, who turned out to be an undercover detective, stood near Bell's car, "He shot me. I’m looking in his eyes, man. He shot me. Everything slowed down. But I’m looking at him shooting me. He’s continuing to shoot.” more ›

One of two friends in Sean Bell's car on November 25, 2006 testified in a Queens court room yesterday about the night where undercover police fatally shot Bell. Trent Benefield, who had been celebrating Bell's bachelor party at a Queens strip club, said he wounded, laying on the sidewalk, when he begged a man standing over him, "Please don’t shoot me. I don’t got nothing to do with nothing.’" The man turned out to be an undercover cop. more ›

Yesterday, a NYPD trajectory expert testified about the fatal 2006 shooting of unarmed man on his wedding day. Crime scene detective Michael Cunningham, only called to examine the evidence seven months after the incident, testified he was unable to determine some trajectories because measurements supplied by the crime scene unit team were inaccurate. more ›