Three days after the verdict in the Sean Bell shooting saw three New York City police officers acquitted on all charges, a number of parties have weighed in on the significance of the verdict, and the Bell family—and the community’s—next steps.
The most highly publicized event took place Saturday, with Al Sharpton addressing a group of protesters and Bell family supporters. The long time civil rights advocate vowed to “close this city down” in response to the verdict and said he and others will respond with “civil disobedience” reminiscent of the era of the Civil Rights Movement.
“We strategically know how to stop the city so people stand still and realize that you do not have the right to shoot down unarmed, innocent civilians,”Sharpton told the crowd. “This city is going to deal with the blood of Sean Bell.”
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Sharpton also organized a 20-block march on Sunday that spanned Malcolm X Boulevard and 125th Street in which some supporters who did not participate in the March shouted “kill the police.”
Marchers also donned placards with large black numbers, to symbolize each of the 50 bullets fired at Sean Bell and several of his friends.
Neither the 23-year-old Bell, nor any of his friends were found to be carrying a weapon and police—who were investigating possible prostitution at the strip club Bell attended that night—never accused Bell of any wrongdoing.
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“They never accused Sean Bell of doing anything. Then why is he dead?”Sharpton said angrily to the crowd.
For Sharpton, the failure by the judge in the case to deliver a guilty verdict shows a lack of accountability by the judicial system regarding alleged police misconduct.
The courts “have shown now that they will not hold police accountable. Well, guess what? If you won’t, we will!” he told the group.
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“April 25, 2008: They killed Sean all over again. That’s what it felt like to us,”Nicole Paultre-Bell said after Sharpton finished addressing the crowd.
After the March, Norman Sigel of the New York Civil Liberties Union and other advocates called for a special prosecutor to oversee police brutality cases. Sigel cited the possible conflict of interest between prosecutors—who must work closely with police in other case—trying to prosecute police officers.
Sigel is confident that the position will be reinstated due to current New York Gov. David A. Paterson.
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“For the first time we realistically have someone in the governor’s seat that understands the need for these reforms,” he said of Paterson, who replaced Eliot Spitzer.
A number of Hip Hop stars also expressed outrage at the verdict.
“This is just another example that the justice system in America views a black life as worthless,”Ice Cube, an outspoken critic of police brutality, said after the verdict was announced.
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“The verdict sends a terrible message to people across the nation who already don’t have faith in the law or our justice system. It will be hard for people to see this as anything other than a case of police protection. Our prayers go out to the family and friends of Sean Bell.”Chamillionaire stated.
For Bun B of UGK, the verdict was “tragic.”
“The verdict is almost as tragic as the incident,”Bun B said. “We’ve already lost [a] life, and now we’ve got a loss of justice and loss of reciprocation for what’s happened. And it cuts you on so many levels.”
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