Police Aquitted in Shooting of Sean Bell
Sean Bell - who was unarmed - was shot 50 times by police. Story below
and this from Branden Cobb
Video Links also added below
From the original article:
In what marks the end of one of the most high-profile police-involved shooting trials in New York City, a judge has acquitted three NYPD detectives of all charges in the shooting death of 23-year-old Sean Bell on Friday. Bell was gunned down in a hail of 50 bullets outside a Queens strip club on what would have been his wedding day in November 2006.
Justice Arthur Cooperman delivered the verdict in a Queens courtroom packed with spectators, including victim Bell’s fiancee and parents, as at least 200 people gathered outside the building.
Detectives Gescard Isnora, 29, and Michael Oliver, 36, faced up to 25 years behind bars for manslaughter charges, while Det. Marc Cooper, 40, faced a year in jail on reckless endangerment charges.
“Murderers! Murderers!” many in the crowd shouted as the officers exited the building. Others chanted “PBA, PBA, KKK! KKK!” while some circled in protest in front of the court house.
“We’re grateful that this court ruled on the evidence presented in this case, but in this case there are no winners or losers, we still have to live with a death.” Patrick J. Lynch, President of the New York City Police Officer’s Benevolent Association, said in a statement to the media outside the courthouse.
“This sends a message to New York City police officers that when you are in that position, when you are in front of a court house, when you are in front of a court bench, you will get fairness.”
The highly anticipated verdict, which many see as holding far-reaching social ramifications for New York City and its police force, comes after seven weeks worth of testimony without a jury.
NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly would not comment on the verdict “because any disciplinary actions that result will ultimately come before me.”
Kelly added he does expect violence or rioting to occur as a result of the verdict, but did say “we are prepared for any contingency.”
As the verdict was read, CBS 2’s Pablo Guzman described Bell’s father as giving a look that seemed to say, “What will it take?” Earlier this month, Bell’s parents spoke exclusively to Guzman about the trial.
“If the verdict is not guilty, we still pray for peace and understanding,” Valerie Bell had said.
The detectives, who were responding to complaints about prostitution at the club, have claimed they fired their guns only after Isnora identified himself as a police officer and Bell’s car nearly ran him over.
Oliver fired 31 shots in the incident, Isnora fired 11, and Cooper fired four times.
Defense attorneys had said there was evidence that Bell was drunk and “out of control” when he left the club. Witnesses overheard Bell exchange curses with another patron, and heard one of the passengers in the car, Joseph Guzman, who was also shot, say to someone, “Go get my gat,” slang for gun. They had also argued Bell had tried to run over Isnora with his car.
Investigators found no gun at the scene.
Prosecutors argued that Oliver would have found there was no threat if he had “paused to reassess” while firing the 31 shots. They said that Cooper fired wildly, with one of his shots even hitting an elevated airport train station. And they alleged that Isnora failed to display his badge in a clearly visible manner and wait for backup, and gave contradictory orders to Bell and his friends.
Bell was supposed to be married at Community Baptist Church in Jamaica the same day of the shooting. On Thursday night, that hallowed ground became the site of a spiritual rally of sorts as an entire city waited for a verdict that had been anticipated for months.
Inspirational words were uttered by the Rev. Al Sharpton for the community and Sean’s family.
“We have no hate. We have no malice. We seek no revenge. We put in God’s hands. And in God’s own time this city will deal with justice,” Sharpton said.
Bell’s fiancé and mother have been overwhelmed by the unwavering support they’ve received since his death.
“I want to start by thanking you all (for) sticking by my family – my other mother and my other father and me. And supporting us because God knows we need it,” Nicole Paultre Bell said.
Outside the courtroom, the NYPD had preparing for any post-verdict scenario or protests.
“We certainly have no reason to expect violence,” NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said Thursday. “There’s been many demonstrations, memorials, marches since the incident took place. We’ve done things that the public would expect us to do to prepare for any contingency.”
Added Bishop Lester Williams: “How can you celebrate officers who are supposed to take care of you and are now going to jail, if that is the case? And then how can you celebrate if they don’t go to jail. The loss that that family will [have to] endure [will last] forever, so there is no victory. We have to sit down and make sure this does not happen again.”
The story continues; “Cops are pigs”. Adreniline pumped, testosterone filled pigs who apparently have poor aim with their issued side arm. Give the babies a BB gun, and they’ll find a way to mount a head.
They deserve their own loses. -RK
We been covering Sean Bell’s case over at Highbrid Nation from the start and when I read today that the police officers were aquitted I was in serious disbelief. An unarmed man was shot 50 times and the people who did it are not responsible at all!? That’s crazy.
This is a travesty of justice. Any decent prosecutor could get a guilty verdict in this case. I just don’t want to be in the immediate area the next time these “officers” feel threatened.
Interesting in light of the “Storm Troopers” that are now patrolling the subways of NYC.
What is the standard issue handgun for NYPD? Unless they carry machine guns then it’s obvious this cop reloaded and was on some other stuff. 31 times!
Race card is being played in this case in spite of the fact that 2 of the 3 officers were black. “Cop” or “police” has no become synonymous with “white”
america is the land of fraud, delusions and illusions
free.dumb, just.us and hypocrisy
time for talk and playing their game is long past
Mike,
People are angry about police brutality in the community, regardless of whether the police officers are white or black. It kind of seems like you’re playing the race card.
Margari,
Several black bloggers are talking about how “whitey” has stuck it to them again
Police have their own race :/
Man this is straight up bullshit!!!!
There is something called the parity principle and this principle is lacking in many aspects of American life. It says accountability and empowerment have to come together. Accountability is lacking in so many cases where people have been empowered and you can trace this all the way up to the halls of power. So when you have a president that is not accountable this trickles all the way down. That is one of the things I respect about Obama he never ducks and hides he faces everything head on.
I wish that the news could have went in favor of Sean’s girlfriend. Then again, stories like that no longer shocks me. It’s almost predictable. You will rarely hear about a policeman get in trouble. Even when they are being prosecuted, it takes an arm and a leg for the so-called justice system to convict them, like the Rodney King case.
Imagine how long and how much panic (or viciousness) it took to shoot fifty bullets between 3 men! How many bullets does it take to kill a man? What kind of police officer could not distinguish that shots were not being fired back? Were they blind? Just stand and pretend to get off 10 shots and imagine that you would not know you had hit or killed someone or that they were not shooting back. This verdict is a travesty. If this forces Obama (as well as the other candidates) to comment it will cost them to say the wrong thing. Maybe it should cost them all to say nothing.
Mike,
You made a general statement, about the race card being played in this case. Your evidence is a few uninformed bloggers and you apply their comments to all of us who are upset about police brutality. You really need to qualify your statements because that’s a broad sweeping accusation. Now if you wanted to criticize the bloggers who are portraying the officers as white fine. But don’t try to say we’re all playing the race card because we’re tired of police brutality in the Black community.
This issue hits home for me. I lost an uncle, shot 37 times by police officers. Just days before, one of the officers told my aunt that if my uncle got in any more trouble, they’d take him out. The people that were there all have different accounts than what the police offer. Now my uncle wasn’t a groom celebrating his nuptials. But, early on I was aware of police brutality. My uncle’s killing and the propensity of the police for arresting and hauling in my brother to jail for no apparent reason other than driving around with tinted windows and loud music made me keenly aware of the police culture towards Black men.
I suppose police are to ignore the fact that blacks are seven times more likely than other races to commit murder, and eight times more likely to commit robbery.
They are to ignore that when blacks commit crimes of violence, they are nearly three times more likely than to use a gun
They are to ignore that single best indicator of violent crime levels in an area is the percentage of the population that is black.
They should ignore that only 10% of gang youth are white
You’re using race as the single-most determinant in crime? The statistics are more linked to socio-economics than race. If you get a neighborhood full of Princeton, Stanford, and Yale Black grads, I assure you crime will not go up. And I really hope you are not on any police force, else we might have more Amadu Diallos. Also, I pray you are not in a position of power to hire anybody because it is clear how race will factor in your evaluations of candidates. .
“If you get a neighborhood full of Princeton, Stanford, and Yale Black grads, I assure you crime will not go up”
Is there such a neighborhood? Why do poor whites neighborhoods not have the crime that poor black neighborhoods have?
There are such neighborhoods. There are such things as Black middle class and affluent neighborhoods. And I find it highly offensive that you would assume that if me and my family moved in, crime rates would go up.
Where’s your stats? I highly doubt you’re a social scientist. Maybe you get your stats from Stormfront or something. At best, I’d say you got them from some neo-con think tank.
Margari, I can’t believe you are humoring someone like Mike with actual arguments. The facts are clear, the criminal justice system has shown the ugly face of racism, and how it is alive and kinking in America’s most liberal city. It is racism because none of us would be acquitted if we shot dead a white man or white woman trying to run us down in a car. This makes me sick, and I am not even black. Now sure this new racism may not have exactly the same lines of division as those 80 years ago. Class status has become a big factor in deciding where you are, especially if you are a light skinned person of color. It is easier to “pass”. But the tactics and nastiness of the whole thing is still there.
Where’d I get my stats Margari?
Try the US Dept of Justice:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/race.htm
If you have alternative facts, then lets see them. Otherwise the overwhelming majority of violent crime committed in this country is committed by blacks.
However, instead of confronting the problem people like you will continue to blame racism and whites
None of the cops were white 2 were black and the other was Lebanese
According to the police, Bell was drunk and was ordered to stop, which he didn’t do, and tried to run the police over in his car. He HIT AN OFFICER WITH HIS CAR and tried to run the others over as well. He was NOT shot 50 times. 50 shots were fired at the car and Bell was hit four times. Looks like Bell caused his own death by being stupid
@ Jet
Facts don’t matter in these cases. You have to go get “the pig”
Sharpton’s thugs marched through Harlem with KKK hoods labeled “NYPD.”
Mike,
You still have not been able to to provide crime rates amongst low income whites and blacks in urban areas. As I stated before, I doubt you have he social science background to extrapolate from those figures provided by the government many of the conclusions that you have made. Your ignorance is apparent, as you had no clue that there were was such a thing as an affluent black neighborhood.
I have never blamed racism and whites for the high prevalence of crime in predominantly black communities in the inner city. Because you side track the discussion by inserting your pressuppositions, I’m sure you haven’t even had a chance to understand the nuanced discourse that Black intellectuals and leaders have around these issues. All you’re about is misrepresenting the nuanced positions that people like myself and Tariq make. It is clear that you have a bone to pick. Like someone said, it is not even worth engaging you because you bring nothing to the table, but ill informed opinions.
And Jet, that is the account the the police officers gave. What were the accounts given by the other witnesses?
Margari,
Don’t even waste your time with Mike. All he will do is pull up stats and say here is my point. What about in real life, day to day, such as the account you gave about your uncle. I am sorry for your loss. Mike is generalizing all Blacks, since he feels that we are somehow dirty. He fails to cite stories and stats that show that the majority of us are doing as best we can like everyone else to make it and live out this “American dream” which too often becomes an “American nightmare”. He fails to show the stories that show us in places of higher education with goals in mind. etc. Don’t even waste time with him. And oh Mike, crime does exist in poor white neighborhoods as well. You know what poor Black and poor white neighborhoods have in common… “poor”. Mike does not grasp that. Crime is not a Black/white thing. Crime is a crime thing.