Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you, or so the saying goes. It certainly applies to the Sean Bell shooting case, who’s verdict came in today. Bell is the 23-year-old from Queens, N.Y., who was killed outside a club where he and his friends went to celebrate his upcoming wedding. Despite dying in a hail of gunfire of over 50 shots by five policemen, the three who were tried were acquitted on all charges of manslaughter and reckless endangerment.
A quick reading of the information from the case, including witness testimony makes it seem that a series of tragic misunderstandings led to Bell’s death. But the question remains – shouldn’t police, who are supposedly trained to handle all kinds of situations involving deadly force – be held to a higher standard?
It appears that Bell’s friends hurt more than they helped as the judge who ultimately rendered the verdict said their statements were “inconsistent.” But so were police statements, which testify to the overall confusion the night of the shooting. But sadly, only Bell is dead, while the three police officers are free to go on with their lives and possibly their careers. To add insult to injury the same NYPD was quick to warn would-be rioters that they were “prepared” for any problems. Fortunately for them, unrest is unlikely as people seem resigned to these kind of verdicts and in this particular NYC police shooting, two of the three officers on trial were, like their victims, Black or Hispanic.
Even after Abner Louima, Amadou Diallo and now Sean Bell, the NYPD hasn’t learned any basic lessons. Obviously their training isn’t covering all bases if an unarmed black man can’t go out and enjoy a bachelor party with his friends without ending up dead. New York Mayor Bloomberg said in his post-verdict statement that “There are no winners here.” Well, he’s wrong. The NYPD wins again and continues to accept and support behavior from its police department that time and time again shows its willingness to do what they’ve always done, which is put a target on the backs of black men. Bell will become just another martyr whose name joins the sad roll call of black men and women killed by the police who ultimately receive no justice. And that’s a damn shame. -Hellifiknow