Detectives acquitted in killing of unarmed NY groom

Wow. One person was killed and several others were seriously injured and absolutely no indictments of any kind were issued. And people wonder why no one trusts the NYPD.

and wesley gets three yrs. sickening.

NYPD's job is to risk their lives protecting the citizens, not risk the lives of the citizens while protecting their own. Peace to his family..

OH NO! I can't bleieve it!
They killed that young man in cold blood
50 shots, indeed!
When is that last time a white boy partied ouside a club and took 50 bullets?
You gotta be kidding.

to AreOh
It’s not just the NYPD. These sorta things are happening everywhere. Cops kill people all the time and seriously injure people everyday. But they never get punished because cops and the like look of for each other.

If you are in the NYC area, please go to
RALLY in QUEENS!
TODAY--- COME OUT:
APRIL 25th at 5:30 pm
The Queens DA's Office
125-01 Queens Blvd. (between Hoover Ave & 82nd Ave.)

E or F train to Union Turnpike

For more information about the April 25th rally/community speak-out,
Peoples' Justice, and other cases of police violence go to:
peoplesjustice.org and myspace.com/peoplesjustice or email
info@peoplesjustice.org.

This is appalling, albeit not surprising!

This is why we need Charles Bronson.

Unfortunately, in the United States, in most cities, all that is required for a police officer to use deadly force is the 'belief' that he or she or their partner is in danger. That standard is a dangerous criterion in moments requiring split second decision making.

In this case, the fact that one of the officers, emptied his gun, reloaded and continued firing, seemed to indicate some type of wrong doing, minimally, on his part. None of the officers reported being fired upon.

Since the case was tried before the judge alone, although we citizens are supposed to believe otherwise, the judge, just like a jury, comes to sit on the bench, relying on his own life experience, where most often those coming before his court are found guilty, and his own perceptions of life on the streets. In most cases, there is a natural, maybe even, an unconscious, bias in favor of police officers on trial.

The request to avoid a jury trial was a standard, legal tactic but, it assured the police officers on trial would not possibly have any possible jury, whose members themselves or their relatives or friends who'd had negative experiences with police, be seated on that jury.

Given the fact that the officers were undercover and out of uniform, and any actions or inaction on the parts of Sean Bell and his friends to respond to them, with Bell's friends saying the officers did not identify themselves and the officers telling the exact opposite story, all that was left were the only facts that could be verified, that being 51 shots were fired into the car and no gun was found on the victims or in the bullet ridden vehicle.

It would seem, to most logical people, that something excessive had occurred there.

This is disgusting. Whats worse is that I am not surprised. I wonder if there would be a similar verdict if the victims were young white men. Who knows but this is just really messed up. I feel for his finance and family, I cant imagine the second dose of grief they are experiencing right now.

We really need to not brush this under the rug. This will continue the ugly relationship between law enforcement and people of color.

It's no coincidence that the verdict was released on a Friday-the worst press day.

I had a feeling this would happen. The minute I heard this story two years prior, I felt that justice would not prevail.

Another sad example of how our justice system, not just in NY but all over the US, is failing us.

I'm posting this on behalf of my friend Andrew. I'm not representing his opinion, but I think he brings up some interesting points about Crime and Punishment. He's shy and not a big blogger. So I'm surrogating.

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i'm not really sure that crazy cops that shoot people when they shouldn't ought to be tried in exactly the same way as everyone else. i mean they're cops, we PAY them specifically to go out and shoot at people. i mean they carry guns so that they can shoot people. i don't think the cops had criminal intent, like they were all five of them out to murder people that day. i DEFINITELY think those guys should be punished, but I have no idea what the right way to punish them is.

jail? don't we put people in jail so they won't be around to cause trouble? would these guys cause trouble if they weren't cops and didn't have guns? i don't know. i think they shouldn't be cops, shouldn't have guns, and we should make them do something really irritating for a long time, like 40hrs community service per week for 3 years. but not jail, i don't think they're criminals in the same way that other criminals are.

disgusting, if one cop shot and killed one person for something reasonable, say the person pulled something out that looked like a gun that would make sense.

however when cops reportedly RELOADED to keep shooting then the only logical thing this could be called is murder.

To the friend of "adavis":

I would grossly disagree with your concept of police officers' purpose. We do not "PAY them specifically to go out and shoot at people," but rather to protect the public. Police are given guns for situation that require such force to protect citizens, not to shoot every time someone does something suspicious. The fact of the matter seems that these police officers misinterpreted the situation, a situation that cost an innocent man his life, and should be punished.
Further, in response to the questions, "don't we put people in jail so they won't be around to cause trouble? would these guys cause trouble if they weren't cops and didn't have guns?"
I believe that police officers accept the stress of their job when they enter the career and this is no excuse for killing a man. Simply as evidence, if a construction worker has been working a 40 hour week and is negligent and accidentaly kills a man, wouldn't he still be held accountable for the lif he took?

I am really angry but yet not surprised by the Bell verdict. I was not expecting them to get completely off without any charges. Injustice and corruption has really been the foundation of American government and its now leaking into the minds our people. It's disturbing that two of these cops were Black. It goes to show how damaged the Black psyche has become. Blacks discriminating against Blacks is now an all too common occurrence. I can't help but to think that is all part of some ultra plan to put our people at an even far more disadvantage.

A movement for the people is in great need. A progressive, forward thinking unit. One that understands the key to equality and justice is in the mobilization of people. There has always been strength in numbers. I really believe that we need to form a proactive and cohesive movement structured around a quasi-60's platform. Desperate times call for desperate measures. We have can't afford to be re-active anymore. There should be a sense of extreme urgency in the hearts of all people in regards to the current state of America. It's as if the American elite and government are launching a crusade against our people in an attempt to reclaim our identities and souls(reminiscent of slavery). Because as we all know crusades were in no shape or form holy, instead they were far-reaching political, economic, and social plots motivated simply by hatred and greed. A quest for land and power.

As Malcolm X said, "Revolution is based on land. Land is the basis of all independence. Land is the basis of freedom, justice, and equality..."

This is a sad day for all. The judge should stand trail.
Who is watching over these judges? OHH I forgot it was a black man that was shot and in New York it is well known that it is ok to do so. It happens all of the time and nobodies doing anything about it.
I love current.com and the tv station. It is the most cultrurallycool source of media in the world. When I hear about things like this it just makes me sick.

Once again justice fails us! Where does it end? How can there be any legal justification for killing unarmed individuals? How many unarmed brothers have to be killed before justice is served. Protecting incompetent police officers sends a
scary message to the black community. Where I'm from you have to give respect to get respect and right now the NYC Police Dept. and judicial system is telling black folk, to there face, that they can commit murder and get away with it! All citizens of New York should speak up!

Fascists look out for other fascists. Keeps the nice little police state we have perpetuating itself.

the reason why this is so interesting is because first off those cops never identified they self as usaul where i come from ,another thing if you see three men with guns who didn't even identify they self you would try to run them over too just get away what happened was very unjustly i hope thoes three cops get what they deserve because im afraid for what these cops might do to the younger generation coming up and for the next victim or victims they decide to pray on.

that makes me feel unsafe

To the first commenter, what do you mean there were no indictments issued. Criminal charges were brought against the 3 officers.

Many comments on this piece are against the judge and the acquittal. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but are many of these comments well informed? The judge made his decision based on 26 days of testimony, which included 50 witnesses. Yet many comments label the judge biased. Are those who left these comments informed of the trial testimony? What evidence did the judge avoid that made these officers guilty? Further, does this judge have a history of bad holdings?

If the acquittal was soooo unjust, as many comments here purport, then justice can still be served. While the officers will never go to jail over this, the family of the victim can still bring a case in civil court against the 3 officers for monetary damages.

Let's not let the acts of a few spoil all the good work that the NYPD does. I'm serious. Sure, the NYPD is not perfect, but they put their lives on the line to keep the City safe. And with the amount of criminals in NYC, I'd say they are doing an excellent job overall. I state this even with consideration of this news story.

Some comments on this story seem overly quick to jump to conclusions about the judge and the NYPD as a whole.

Keep an open mind.

Your right, IHDub. What I should have said is that there was no punishment handed down for those indictments, which I still say is appalling. I think you make a good point about the NYPD not being all bad. In fact, I agree. However as you also stated, it is not perfect, which is also true. In our jobs, if we don't do it properly, we get warnings, reprimands and even termination. If cops don't do their job properly, as we have seen, people get seriously injured and/or die. I mean, whether you agree with the testimony or not, something is very wrong if representatives of the people who volunteer to protect us can kill and unarmed man and get absolutely NO type of punishment at all. What if it was a member of your family? Would you want to be able to sue them in civil court or would you like some acknowledgement that what happened was wrong and they will do their best to make sure it does not happen again? Yes, we should keep an open mind about the NYPD, but that does not excuse us from basic civility and wanting to see some justice for this family. Two of the officers didn't even apologize! Are these the type of people we really want to give the benefit of the doubt too?

Not surprising considering it is NYC. Now police there will be carrying submachine guns on subways so watch out. They are trigger happy. What a travesty of justice.

All cops are fat because they shoot first and make an effort later. Fat pigs.

Cops should have no guns and then how many cops would want to be cops.

The power of the gun and this will soon be forgotten. Like nothing ever happened cuz we are scared of the muscle of the gun. Unified armed forces that follow directions and don't think.

An animal behavior.

This will soon be forgotten!

For what reason were they acquitted? Did shooting the guy multiple times seem like a good defense?

there was a clip on Current a few months ago ( one of my faves ) where 4 black guys rented a black mercedes and drove around London with the music blaring - and every few blocks they'd get out , at a random spot , and start dancing on the sidewalk , trying to attract the attention of the "bobbies" ( london police ) - and actually tried to get searched by yelling out to the bobbies " are you gonna search us ?! " - finally , after much effort , they finally got one cop to come over to their car , and the cop just asked "are you wearing your seatbelts? " - at the same time the guys were actually in the car , music still on , and dancing in their seats ! i laughed for weeks - now imagine that same thing happening in Compton , anywhere in NYC , ATL , or any big city here - they would have been on their stomaches at gunpoint with a dog sniffing through their car - "american justice" is no less f-ed up than the health care system which ass fucks this country .