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DEL.ICIO.USWhat do you think of the Sean Bell verdict?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Three New York detectives were acquitted of all charges in the death of an unarmed groom-to-be on his wedding day, a case that put the city’s police department at the center of allegations of excessive firepower.
Police officers surrounded the courthouse to guard against potential chaos, and as news of the verdict spread, many began weeping, according to an AP article. Others were enraged.
In 2006, Sean Bell, a 23-year-old black man, was killed in a hail of gunfire outside a seedy strip club in Queens as he was leaving his bachelor party with two friends. Police said earlier they believed the group was armed and dangerous. Demonstrators say police used excessive force. Bell was shot nearly 50 times.
Have you followed the case. What is your reaction to the verdict?
Comments
By InJustice In America
April 25, 2008 1:21 PM | Link to this
Should anyone be surprised at the verdict? And they wonder why the young people are so angry & distrustful of law enforcement. This is a prime example of why. Another day in America. The world is watching. How can America clean up other Countries when America has more than enough dirt in it’s own backyard that needs to be cleaned up. Oh well, welcome to America. Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. Wake up people, open your eyes. Sad, very sad. I don’t care what color the victim is, it’s not right & it’s not fair. Another example of so called justice in America.
By Sven the Blog Catalyst
April 25, 2008 1:51 PM | Link to this
I think that none of us were there, none of us heard the testimony, none of us were able to assess the veracity of the witnesses in person, and therefore none of us can or should be in a position to say EITHER that the verdict was wrong or right.
We do have clues — the judge has said that many of the witnesses against the police were not credible, as they changed and contradicted their stories; he also noted the rather abundant ciminal histories of those same witnesses, which harms the weight of their testimony.
This also must be weighed, in a criminal case, against what was in the officers’ minds — did they act with a criminal intent? These are officers who, ever day, put their lives on the line to arrest mostly minority (and most of those black), violent suspects (so, it’s no coincidence to find such an “impressive” collection of criminal histories among the defendants). How are they supposed to react when this person then flees, refuses to heed instructions to halt, then drives at them in a 2 ton SUV?
Sure, many will rail against the verdict and start chanting “no justice, no peace,’ and urge demonstrations and even violence. These people are either wilfully ignorant, or worse, are acting to further some other disingenuous agenda.
Let it go, people. You weren’t there. The witnesses spoke, and the judge made a presumably reasoned decision. Move on.
By gttim
April 25, 2008 2:18 PM | Link to this
51 shots into an unarmed black male. One officer had to stop, reload and fire again. It is either criminal or just stupidity, but those officers should be off the force if not in jail.
However, and this is playing the race card and yes two of the officers firing were black, when was the last time you heard of an unarmed white male being shot at with 51, or 41, bullets? Happens all the time to black males it seems.
By meme
April 25, 2008 2:19 PM | Link to this
I am P**! Where are our so called black leaders at? This is a wake up call, and people we have got to educate ourselves. The only way to fight this is to be in power. I know people are going to hate me for saying this, but I am so tired of black men saying they want to be RAPPERS, I can scream!! This means that we must put education first and become Lawyers, Judges, Senators and become Congressmen. This is the way that we can fight back. By taking control of the Judicial system and controlling the laws. This same stuff has been happening for several hundred years. This is not new guys; we can’t just keep sitting back and say “they” did it again. They took another one of ours. We can’t change the racist belief that has been imbedded in our communities, but we can take control and fight for our children. My heart goes out to the families. Don’t forget it could have been you or your loved one.
By mike
April 25, 2008 3:37 PM | Link to this
in response to Sven. we should have taken that same approach with Natalie Holloway , no one was there the judge let the boys go and yet a year latter that crime is still news worthy. you are right lets move on. the courts could not possibly make a mistake considering all the releases of prisoners who were convicted through shoddy Police work and exonerated by DNA evidence. lets move on every time especially when someone female blonde and blue eyed is missing
By Oiling the squeeking unhinged
April 25, 2008 3:51 PM | Link to this
What was the officer’s motivation? What was their testimony about why they shot the guy?