• » Name: J. Burnett
• » Location: Atlanta, GA
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Why Think Let Me Do That...Jesus Approved Commentary

A Call to Arms

I, like many of you, have heard about the Sean Bell case. And I, like many of you, chalked it off as another sad story; another injustice that was beyond my control. Before I attempted to do anything, I had already concluded there was not much I could do. I've come to determine this is an erroneous conclusion. Allowing what happened to happen to this man without saying or doing something will assuredly make America an immensely less safe place for anyone--not just men of color but EVERYONE.

I can and WILL do something. It's never too late to do something.

Here's the details as I know them. That night Bell and two others (and possibly a third individual) celebrated Bell's pending wedding to Nicole Paultre with a bachelor's party at a seedy strip club named the Kalua Cabaret. Said club was under surveillance for its owner allegedly "fostering" a prostitution ring. With that said there were undercover officers on the premises who were building a case against the establishment and its owner. Upon witnessing a heated argument between a member of Bell's party (Guzman) and one of the dancers, one of the plain clothes officers overheard the man from Bell's party saying "Yo, get my gun" (NY Post). The detective proceeded to following the party out of the club.

Now, here's where details differ depending on the perspective. The plain clothes officer was said to approach the car with his gun drawn. At this point Bell who was driving a Nissan Altima pulled off hitting the officer and colliding with an unmarked surveillance van--either in fear of an ensuing carjacking or fleeing arrest. This we'll never know because Bell was slain in the shooting that commenced following that sequence of events. Whether the officer--as protocol calls for--identified himself as a police officer before he drew his gun, or after, or if he did at all has yet to be determined. After all the dust had settled, Detective Michael Oliver had shot 31 times (a full two clips); Detective Isnora fired 11 shots and Detective Cooper fired off 4 shots--a total of close to 50 bullets to subdue a car of 3-4 men.

The fourth man who allegedly had the phantom firearm supposedly fled the scene although no evidence of his weapon, persona or actual presence has been confirmed. Alot of the details have shifted and there's alot of room for speculation in either direction. What remains is that Sean Bell, a father and soon to be husband, is dead and there was no weapon in the vehicle that was fired upon. What about his wife, his daughter? And nearly 50 shots fired, if not more, shots to stop them..."Excessive force" is an understatement. According to protocol, gunshots should not be used on moving vehicles (even if the vehicle is being used as a weapon) and regardless of that, some of the shots fired nearly injured innocent bystanders who had nothing to do with the incident. Several similar incidents have occurred in Georgia and they occur all over the nation. When does it stop? To add insult to injury, in the criminal trial for the three officers all were acquitted of their respective charges which included manslaughter and reckless endangerment.

I'm not sure what course of action needs to be taken but something needs to happen. If you'd like to mobilize in the name of justice contact me directly (email's in the contact section). We can discuss the facts, details, (or vent) and decide what the next action may be. But we can't continue to allow things like this to happen without doing something.

If you'd like to find out more about this case and read a bevy of newspaper articles about this, click here

Justice for Sean (Sean's Family's Website)

Please spread the word. Copy and paste my note in another note and tag as many people as you can.

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