The Sean Bell Case. New York City 2006-07

On November 25, 2006, during the early hours of the morning, outside a Queens night club, Sean Bell was gunned down by NYPD Undercover and Plain Clothes officers. Undercover cops fired at least 50 rounds of bullets into a car carrying Sean Bell and two of his friends as they left Bell's bachelor party in the Jamaica, Queens. The club where the bachelor party was held was under police surveillance, inside and outside the building. When Bell's car left the club, it accidently ran into an unmarked van carrying some of the cops involved in the surveillance, than the cops responded with a barrage of deadly gunfire Killing Sean Bell on his wedding day. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly reported that one of his men, MIKE OLIVER, fired his weapon 31 times, emptying two full magazines.  Sean Bell was shot in the neck, shoulder and right arm and died at the hospital. Two of Bell's friends who were also in the car, 21-year-old Joseph Guzman and 23-year-old Trent Benefield, were hospitalized with multiple gun shot wounds. NYC Mayor Bloomberg called for calm and said it was too early to draw any conclusions about the incident. But many people remember how in 1999 NYPD cops killed Amadou Diallo, an unarmed West African immigrant, shooting him 19 times. And many people are responding to this killing with grief and outrage.

On the night of the shooting, Gescard Isnora, the undercover officer who fired his weapon first, followed Mr Bell and his two friends to Mr Bell’s car, believing they went to get a gun to settle a dispute at the club. He opened fire after being grazed by Sean Bell's car. The other officers reached Mr Bell’s car after the initial confrontation and said they believed that their colleague was being fired at from inside the vehicle. The two survivors said that they never heard Gescard Isnora identify himself as a police officer as he approached the car, with his gun drawn.


Over 17 months after the incident, and at the end of a two-month trial, Justice Arthur Cooperman of the State Supreme Court delivered a not-guilty verdict in front of a courtoom packed with spectators and the  victim's fiancee and parents. The case generated outrage in New York’s black community, even though two of the officers are black. The Police prepared for potential unrest after the announcement of the verdict, posting 1,000 officers around the court house. Officials said however that they did not expect violence because numerous demonstrations against the perceived police brutality had remained peaceful.
Delivering his verdict, Judge Cooperman said that the charges could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. “Questions of carelessness and incompetence must be left to other forums,” he added.
The trial centred on whether the detectives had reason to believe they faced imminent danger and whether they made it clear to Mr Bell and the two survivors, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, that they were police officers. Every last one of the 50+ Shots were Justified and all officers were acquitted.

IS THIS OUTRAGE AND MISCONDUCT OR IS IT NOT ENOUGH TO BE CALLED SUCH ?


 

Sources-
http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Sean+Bell
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/regional/item_kf8Lye0S3tBVdJvrro36TL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Bell_shooting_incident