jeebs1707's Blog

I woke up about 9:00am this morning, and, like always I turned on the news. To my dismay, I see that the police officers that were on trial for killing Sean Bell were acquitted. Sean Bell is the young man from New York that was shot atleast 50 times by 3 New York police officers.Bell,23, was killed just before dawn on his wedding day, November 25, 2006. He and several friends were winding up an all-night bachelor party at the Kalua Club in Queens, a strip club that was under investigation by a NYPD undercover unit looking into complaints of guns, drugs and prostitution.

Undercover detectives were inside the club, and plain-clothes officers were stationed outside.

Witnesses said that about 4 a.m., closing time, as Bell and his friends left the club, an argument broke out. Believing that one of Bell's friends, Joseph Guzman, was going to get a gun from Bell's car, one of the undercover detectives followed the men and called for backup.

What happened next was at the heart of the trial, prosecuted by the assistant district attorney in Queens

Bell, Guzman and Trent Benefield got into the car, with Bell at the wheel. The detectives drew their weapons, said Guzman and Benefield, who testified that they never heard the plain-clothes detectives identify themselves as police.

Bell was in a panic to get away from the armed men, his friends testified.

But the detectives thought Bell was trying to run down one of them, according to their lawyers, believed that their lives were in danger and started shooting.

In a frantic 911 call, police can be heard saying, "Shots fired. Undercover units involved."

A total of 50 bullets were fired by five NYPD officers. Only three were charged with crimes.

Oliver, who reloaded his semiautomatic in the middle of the fray, fired 31 times, Isnora fired 11 times, and Cooper, whose leg was brushed by Bell's moving car, fired four times, the NYPD said.

No gun was found near Bell or his friends.

Soon after his death, Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre, legally changed her name to Nicole Paultre Bell. She is now raising the couple's two daughters, ages 5 and 1.

"I tell [them] that Daddy's in heaven now," she said. "He's watching over us. He's our guardian angel. He's going to be here to protect us and make sure nothing happens to us."

Detectives Endowment Association President Michael Palladino said forensic and scientific evidence presented during the seven-week trial contradicts the testimony of prosecution witnesses.

But Paultre Bell's father, Lester Paultre, said, "For those naysayers who say the police was doing their job, they should imagine their child in that car being shot by the police for no reason."

Paultre Bell, Guzman and Benefield have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in federal court that has been stayed pending the outcome of the criminal trial. Guzman was shot 16 times, and four bullets, too dangerous to remove, remain in his body, according to his lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein.

Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York have been monitoring the trial. In the event of an acquittal, it is likely authorities would conduct a review to determine whether there were any civil rights violations. All three victims were African-American.

 Yes, I am angry about the verdict, but not suprised. I've seen the same scenarios concerning excessive force against "Black" people all of my life. When I watch the show C.O.P.S.,  Most Shocking Videos, or any show of this nature, I notice that the police are always so much more patient and reserved when dealing with criminals that are "White". A couple of months ago I can recall reading about a man in Philadelphia who robbed a drug store with a shot-gun. He came outside the store with the shot-gun drawn at police and for that he recieved 1 shot to the thigh by police. He was "White" I can recall an episode of C.O.P.S. were a man held police at bay with a knife for an hour and the final out-come is he was tackled and subdued by police. He was "White". Whenever I have seen any violent confrontations that police happen to have with a "Black" man, 90% of the time the result ends up being the death of the "Black" person. Usually the situation results in some "desk" duty for the cop, a "so-called" internal investigation that you never hear anything about, and then everything back to the same ole' thing. If in fact 1 case out of 1000 go to trial, the police in question just takes some days off of the job,throw back a few beers shoot a few games of pool with the fellas, maybe take that trip to the shore they've been wanting to take, while getting the "thumbs up" from their attorneys that they don't have a thing to worry about concerning the case. Because the bottom line is that no one is concerned with the lost of another "Black" man. So unfortunately, after today, Sean Bell won't even be a memory to most. Do I think that the officers are sympathetic about what they did? Not at all. They'll just shrugged it off mentally. And, if in fact their conscience happen to wake them up i the middle of the night with the picture of his bullet riddled, bloody body, they will say to themselves what they all ultimately utter to ease the guilt and somehow add relevancy to justify their callous act, "I WAS JUST DOING MY JOB".       jeebs1707 Pennsauken, N.J..