: Outrage After Bell Verdict Local Leaders Push For Federal Charges

“Not guilty!”

Within moments, the words turned exuberant—rabble rousing and chants of “justice, Sean Bell,” outside the Queens County Criminal Court – to tears, jeers, anger and disbelief.

“I’m just speechless. There’s just no words right now – speechless,” Erin Chung, who came from her home in Flushing
to show her support, said.

Judge Arthur Cooperman of the Queens Supreme Court delivered the verdict shortly after 9 a.m. on Friday in Kew Gardens, clearing three New York City Police Department detectives of all criminal charges in the Nov. 25, 2006 shooting outside Club Kalua in Jamaica. Detectives Gescard Isnora, Michael Oliver and Marc Cooper unleashed a 50-bullet-hail of gunfire that night, leaving Sean Bell dead and two of his friends wounded.

“They’re a gang with badges,” Tyrese Brown, one of the demonstrators, shouted. “I’m appalled.”

The acquittal is the latest in a line of contentious NYPD shooting cases dismissed, mostly involving unarmed black-victims in poor neighborhoods. The case was compared to the death of Amadou Diallo, who was shot by four police officers 41 times while reaching for his wallet in 1999. Diallo’s killers were also acquitted.

“It’s a reflection of the leadership in this city,” George Edwards, a retired juvenile councilor from Flushing, said outside the court. “It’s institutional racism – I can’t call it any other way.”

The anger on the streets in the wake of the verdict is now fueling action from above, as community leaders make plans to continue the fight.

“This is not the end, this is the beginning,” Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton) said. Sanders met with local leaders and community activists, including Rev. Al Sharpton, Friday evening to discuss what, if any, actions the community would pursue.

Sharpton and his National Action Network have been at the center of the storm since the day of the shooting, rallying support for the Bell family while chastising the police department. Sharpton, along with Bell’s fiancée, have vowed to “shut down” the city with a campaign of civil disobedience.

“The justice system let me down,” Nicole Paultre Bell said during a NAN rally after the verdict. “They killed Sean all over again.”

The NAN began the first of many planned post-verdict marches in Harlem on Sunday, blocking traffic as members marched down Malcolm X Boulevard.

“To ask us to respect the verdict does not mean we have to agree,” Sharpton said.

Meanwhile, leaders have been forming a coalition behind the scenes to pursue federal civil rights charges against the three detectives.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-Jamaica) said during a press conference on Monday, echoing Martin Luther King Jr. Meeks was joined by eight other congressmen and a platoon of local leaders who are supporting a federal investigation, including Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

“We want to make sure justice is served – that the message is sent out not just to law enforcement, but to the young people of this country – that these kinds of tragedies have to end in this country.” Conyers said. “If we’re spreading democracy and justice around the world, we should be having it in New York.”

While most of the resistance to the verdict has been peaceful-by-the-books activism, there is a small minority calling for more radical steps. Outside the steps of the courthouse on Friday, some demonstrators were selling a more primitive form of justice – an eye for an eye.

“There’s a tense feeling in the community,” Sanders said. “There’s a lot of shock and rage.”

In the days after the verdict, police received intelligence on plans for reprisal killings, a source within the NYPD said, including plans to phone in fake distress calls and ambush officers. The department took the threats seriously, issuing citywide orders to change response tactics and temporarily removing foot patrols in high risk areas, the source said. Authorities within the department declined to comment on the threats.

Despite the volatile atmosphere, Sanders said he is hopeful that virtue will win out in the end.

“This is not about the police department; there are many good officers who serve our community,” he said. “This is about justice.”