NYC Settles With Police Shooting Victim's Estate

Image via Wikipedia

The city of New York has agreed to pay more than $7 million to settle a civil lawsuit stemming from the fatal 50-bullet police shooting of an unarmed man on his wedding day.

THE HUTCHINSON REPORT: Do police rush to judgment when they investigate themselves?

By Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Inglewood, California Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks faces a dilemma that many big city police chiefs face when their officer’s gun down unarmed civilians under dubious circumstances, and those civilians in almost all cases are young African Americans or Latinos.

In this case the victim was 19 year-old Michael Byoune.


The deep suspicion is that police routinely bend, twist and massage testimony and evidence to whitewash and ultimately exonerate officers.


The way to counter that is to conduct a thorough and honest investigation and if the officer(s) are found guilty of wrongdoing impose swift punishment.


But that almost always draws loud protests from police unions and some city officials.

The Byoune killing by any standard was a bad shooting. In fact, it evoked instant comparisons to the killing of bride-groom-to-be Sean Bell by NYPD officers in 2007. Bell, like Byoune, was a young African-American male. Bell and Byoune were unarmed. There is no indication that he, like Bell, was involved in any gang or criminal involvement. From tapes and news clips, Inglewood police officers riddled the car that Byoune was in with bullet holes. The car Bell was in was also riddled with gunfire.

COMMENTARY....

Commentary: Surprise, Surprise -- Black and Brown Youths Unfairly Targeted by NYPD Stop-and-Frisk Policies

By: Tonyaa Weathersbee, BlackAmericaWeb.com

The more I read the news coming out of the Big Apple these days, the more I’m beginning to believe that young black people there aren’t as much of a threat to the police as they are a mark for them.

First there was Sean Bell. The unarmed, 23-year-old died after police unleashed a storm of 50 bullets at him and his friends outside of a Jamaica, Queens nightclub in November 2006.

The three detectives, who recently were found not guilty on manslaughter charges stemming from that shooting, apparently thought that the only way to stop any potential for gunplay among young black men was to simply beat them to the punch; to kill them all first. And count on an acquittal later.

COMMENTARY....

NY Governor Vows to Examine Police Procedures

By: Jennifer Peltz, Associated Press

NEW YORK - (AP) Gov. David Paterson pledged to examine undercover police conduct on Thursday, a day after more than 200 people were arrested protesting the acquittal of three detectives involved in the shooting death of an unarmed man.

Paterson said he understood the activists' frustrations as he stood with the slain man's fiancee and the Rev. Al Sharpton, who were among the demonstrators arrested while disrupting evening rush hour traffic. But the governor stopped short of endorsing their actions.

"No civil servant can condone civil disobedience," Paterson said, but he added: "They felt that they had no other choice but to take the action that they took, and I respect the decision that they made to take that action."

READ MORE....

Want to Avoid Drama at Any Costs, Brothers? Then Grow Up, and Just Say No to Strip Clubs

By: Gregory Kane, BlackAmericaWeb.com

Consider this column an open letter to the brothers, but you sisters should still read it. If you’re involved with a guy who’s a bit slow on the uptake, you might have to interpret this for your boo.

The same week that New York Police Department officers were found not guilty of all charges stemming from the fatal shooting of Sean Bell, Norman Stamp was being buried in Baltimore. You may not have heard of Stamp. While there are major differences between what happened in the Bell and Stamp cases, there are also striking similarities.

READ MORE....

Sharpton arrested as hundreds protest NYC police shooting

By TOM HAYS and DAVID B. CARUSO Associated Press Writers

NEW YORK — The Rev. Al Sharpton was arrested at the Brooklyn Bridge on Wednesday as he and hundreds of demonstrators blocked traffic to protest the acquittal of three detectives in the 50-bullet shooting of an unarmed black man on his wedding day.

Sharpton, two survivors of the shooting and the slain man's fiancee were among about a dozen people arrested on disorderly conduct charges near the base of the bridge. Police led away demonstrators at several other bridges and tunnels in the city.

The protests were part of a coordinated campaign to urge federal authorities to investigate the November 2006 shooting of Sean Bell. Three officers were acquitted of state charges last month.

READ FULL STORY....

'Pray-In' Planned to Protest Bell Verdict

By: Verena Dobnik, Associated Press

NEW YORK - (AP) Demonstrators plan to pray on their knees and be arrested for civil disobedience to protest the acquittals of three police officers in the death of an unarmed man shot on his wedding day, the Rev. Al Sharpton said Saturday.

The civil rights activist, who has promised to "close this city down" to protest last month's verdict, said protesters would stage a "pray-in" Wednesday at half a dozen places in the city, including the police headquarters.

Hundreds of angry people marched through Harlem a day after the officers were cleared in the November 2006 death of Sean Bell, 23. Two friends were wounded in the barrage of 50 shots fired by the undercover officers and two colleagues outside a night club where Bell had just left his bachelor party.

Sean Bell was black. His death rekindled long-standing tensions over alleged racism and excessive force by police, even though two of the officers charged are also black.

Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell -- who took his name after his death -- plans to participate in Wednesday's protest and any other action "till justice is done," she told several hundred people gathered at Sharpton's National Action Network headquarters in Harlem, the historically black Manhattan neighborhood.

Sharpton said participants would gather at 3 p.m. in at least six places around the city and then fan out to undisclosed locations.

"Where we go from there is anybody's guess," Rachel Noerdlinger, Sharpton's spokeswoman, said later, adding that wherever protesters end up, "they'll be arrested praying."

The "pray-in" is only the start of whatever actions are necessary to oppose the verdict.

"It's going to be a long struggle, but the race isn't given to the swift or the strong, but to those who endure," Sharpton said.

THE SEAN BELL VERDICT: No, No, No ... Not God Bless America , God Damn America !

By Lloyd Kam Williams

'When it came to treating her citizens of African descent fairly, America failed… The government put them outside the equal protection of the law… and locked them into positions of hopelessness and helplessness. The government… wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no. Not God bless America, God damn America! That's in the Bible for killing innocent people. God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human! The United States government has failed the vast majority of her citizens of African descent. Think about this… think about this." -- Reverend Jeremiah Wright, 4/13/03

'The testimony just didn't make sense… Accordingly, the court finds each defendant not guilty of each of the respective counts in the indictment of which they were charged." -- Judge Arthur Cooperman, 4/25/08

About a hundred years ago, WEB Du Bois predicted that the question of the color line would be the defining problem of the 20th Century. In spite of Martin Luther King's elusive dream of the day when black Americans would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character, it appears that it is destined to remain the incendiary issue of the this century as well.

Earlier this year, even a suddenly-introspective Condoleezza Rice referred to slavery as the country's original sin, lamenting, "What I would like understood as a black American is that black Americans loved and had faith in this country even when this country didn't love and have faith in them - and that's our legacy." And now the not guilty verdict in the Sean Bell case is a clear indication that African-Americans are still considered second-class citizens in the eyes of the Criminal Justice System.

How else can you explain the rationalization by Judge Arthur Cooperman that five undercover NYPD detectives were legally justified in pumping 50 bullets into an unarmed Sean Bell on the night before his wedding? Although the black community had understandably been outraged back in November of 2006 upon learning of the tragedy, patience prevailed as it opted to abide by the Queens District Attorney's Office assurances that justice would eventually be served.

It is for this reason that I find Judge Cooperman's rewarding that trust by handing down such an insulting decision so dismaying. He totally exonerated the police of all eight counts in the indictment while simultaneously ridiculing the prosecution's case and eyewitnesses as if they were a joke. This amounts to a slap in the face of the community.

I am very familiar with South Jamaica, the middle class neighborhood where the incident occurred, for I was born and raised there. And my mother still lives there with one of my brothers and his family, as do many of my cousins and other relatives and childhood friends.

The tone of Cooperman's remarks would never have been so insensitive if the same cops had unleashed a hail of bullets on an innocent, defenseless white man. Many are asking, how is it that such trigger-happy policing of African-American communities can continue to be rubber-stamped by the bench as if there is a much lower threshold for state-sanctioned use of deadly force against blacks than against whites?

Neither this incident nor its resolution is without precedent. All I have to do is mention the name of Amadou Diallo to trigger thoughts of the country's disgraceful legacy of dispensing vigilante justice to blacks, from the whippings and brandings doled out during days of slavery through the 100 years of lynching post emancipation clear up to present-day police intimidation tactics like racial profiling which inexorably lead to unfortunate deaths like that of Sean Bell.

So, the next time the mainstream media replays its favorite sound bite of Reverend Jeremiah Wright fuming, " God Bless America? No, no, no! Not God bless America, God damn America!" just remember that he's merely ministering to a beleaguered people with whom that message has been readily resonating for ages.

Lloyd Kam Williams is an attorney and a member of the NJ, NY, CT, PA, MA & US Supreme Court bars.

NAACP EXPRESSES OUTRAGE: At unjust ruling in Sean Bell police shooting case

By Richard J. McIntire

The NAACP is expressing its outrage at the verdict issued earlier today by New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur J. Cooperman in the police shooting death of Sean Bell.

The NAACP demands that the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division follow through on its reported monitoring of the case and launch a thorough investigation.

"For us, this case raises the overwhelming concern that New York City Police are often out of control," said New York State Conference NAACP President Hazel N. Dukes. "Where was the threat to the police? There was no need for so many shots to have been fired under the circumstances. The police need to protect and respect our community. The legal system is not living up to justice and fair play. To acquit on all charges is inconceivable and unacceptable. This verdict does not sit well with the NAACP."

The New York State Conference NAACP is planning a Day of Mourning and other reconciliation activities in wake of the verdict.

"This is the latest glaring example of court decisions that appear to endorse legally-sanctioned violence against African Americans," said NAACP Interim General Counsel Angela Ciccolo. "It is high time for all people to wake up and demand an end to senseless violence by police officers against African Americans."

As the court's review of this case tragically illustrates, the statutes that govern the use of deadly force by law enforcement entities are woefully inadequate. As such, the NAACP also calls on Congress to hold hearings on use of force policies and The Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act, as crafted by Michigan Rep. John Conyers.

Founded in 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its more than half-million adult and youth members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities and monitors of equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.

SHARPTON, MARCHERS PROTEST BELL ACQUITTALS IN NY: Rev. Al promised to 'close this city down' after cops go free.

Al Sharpton fired up a group of protesters in Harlem Saturday with promises to "close this city down" following the acquittals of three police detectives who shot and killed an unarmed groom on his wedding day.


"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 an overflow crowd of several hundred people at his National Action Network office. "This city is going to deal with the blood of Sean Bell."


According to the AP, Sharpton's rally at his office was followed by a 20-block march down Malcolm X Boulevard and then across 125th Street, where some bystanders yelled out "Kill the police!" Fifty of the marchers carried white placards bearing big black numbers for each of the 50 bullets police fired at Bell and his friends.


Also taking part in the rally was a friend of Bell who was wounded in the 2006 shooting outside a Queens strip club.

"They never accused Sean Bell of doing anything. Then why is he dead?" Sharpton asked, his voice roaring with anger. Authorities "have shown now that they will not hold police accountable. Well, guess what? If you won't, we will!"

"Shut it down! Shut it down!" the crowd chanted, standing up and applauding wildly.

Sitting behind Sharpton as he spoke were Bell's parents, his sister and Nicole Paultre Bell, who took her fiance's name after his death.

"The justice system let me down," Paultre Bell told the crowd in a soft voice. "April 25, 2008: They killed Sean all over again. That's what it felt like to us."

NY police cleared in 50-bullet wedding day shooting

By Edith Honan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Three New York City detectives were found not guilty on Friday in the shooting death of an unarmed black man killed in a hail of 50 bullets on his wedding day, prompting angry reactions and a federal review of the case.

A New York state judge cleared two police officers of manslaughter and other charges and a third of reckless endangerment in the death of Sean Bell, 23. Bell was shot, along with two friends, after a bachelor party at a strip club in November 2006.

But federal authorities said they would consider civil rights charges in the case in a review to be conducted by the Justice Department, federal prosecutors and the FBI.

They will "take appropriate action if the evidence indicates a prosecutable violation of federal criminal civil rights statutes," the Justice Department said in a statement.

After the verdict, hundreds of demonstrators yelled angrily, and there was pushing and shoving in the crowd as police, reporters and spectators packed the sidewalk.

Civil rights leader Al Sharpton, who has been highly critical of police and is influential in New York's black community, called for wider protests.

"They want us to act crazy so they would have an excuse to do more," Sharpton told the audience of his radio show. "We are going to be strategic. We are going to close the city down in a nonviolent effective way."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for calm after the verdict, saying, "We don't expect violence or law-breaking, nor is there any place for it."

The case had generated outrage in New York's black community, though police said they did not expect violence because numerous demonstrations against the perceived police brutality had remained peaceful.

"It shows that there is no justice in America for the black man. This is telling us the cops can do whatever they want and get away with it," said B.M. Marcus, a community organizer.

APOLOGY

The acquitted officers gave brief statements thanking their friends and family.

"I'd like to say sorry to the Bell family for the tragedy," said detective Marc Cooper, who had been charged only with reckless endangerment.

The other two detectives, Gescard Isnora and Mike Oliver, were charged with manslaughter.

All three defendants waived their right to a jury trial and decided to have the judge decide guilt or innocence. The defense lawyers said jurors in the borough of Queens were likely to be biased against the policemen due to the intense media coverage generated by the case.

State Supreme Court Judge Arthur Cooperman said the charges could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, noting that some prosecution witnesses contradicted themselves from prior statements and may have had motivation to lie.

"At times the testimony just didn't make sense," Cooperman said.

After the verdict, loud sobs were heard in the courtroom.

The judge gave credibility to the detectives' statements that they believed they were in danger but also offered, "Questions of carelessness and incompetence must be left to other forums."

The eight-week trial centered on whether the detectives had reason to believe they faced imminent danger and whether they made it clear to Bell and the two survivors that they were police officers.

On the night of the shooting, Isnora, the undercover officer who fired first, followed Bell and his two friends to Bell's car believing they went to fetch a gun to settle a dispute at the club. He opened fire after being grazed by Bell's car as Bell attempted to drive away.

The other officers reached Bell's car after the initial confrontation and said they believed Isnora was being fired at from inside the vehicle.

(Reporting by Edith Honan; Editing by Jackie Frank)