Al Sharpton and Civil Rights Protesters Arrested in New York

Reverend Al Sharpton led protests today in New York City over the acquittal of police officers in the 50-bullet shooting of an unarmed black man on his wedding day.

Reverend Al Sharpton was among people arrested today in New York City during a protest over a police shooting of an unarmed African American man in Queens named Sean Bell. Photo courtesy: nationalactionnetwork.net/

(NEW YORK) - Arrests were part of a massive civil rights "pray-in" and demonstration that was organized and held in New York City today. It was a protest over the recent acquittal of three New York police detectives who used over 50 bullets in the shooting death of Sean Bell, an unarmed black man who was leaving his own bachelor party.

Before today was over, Reverend Al Sharpton, founder of the National Action Network and noted and outspoken leader in the movement for civil rights, was arrested for disorderly content, and for successfully closing the Brooklyn Bridge.

Sean Bell

Along with him were many others, including the slain man Sean Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell, and his friends who were with him the night of his death; shooting survivors Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman.

Other community and religious leaders have joined in the call upon the United States Department of Justice to intervene in the Sean Bell case. According to Rev. Sharpton, participants in today's "pray-ins" which were actually held at six locations across the city, needed to be prepared to go to jail to protest the acquittals of the three detectives.

"If you are not going to lock up the guilty in this town, then I guess you'll have to lock up the innocent," says Rev. Sharpton. Rev. Sharpton said protesters at each location would get down on their knees in prayer. He said he hopes the acts of civil disobedience will continue until an eventual citywide day to shutdown NYC later this Spring.

New York City Police seemed to downplay the arrests today, one officer told Reuters that "a couple dozen" people were arrested. Most news sources place the number above 50, and a spokeswoman for Sharpton put the number at 190.

This is not the first time that people in New York have called police into question for the way they treat residents in minority neighborhoods. Sharpton says their mission is simple; "to promote a modern Civil Rights agenda that includes one standard of just and decency for all people regardless of race, social justice for communities, and the improvement of race relations."

For the family and friends of Sean Bell, who was shot over and over again by detectives that misidentified him, the recent acquittal of the three New York Policemen, one black, one white and one Hispanic, stings in the way that only perceived injustice can.

Sharpton and others vowed recently to disrupt traffic in New York to draw attention to the case, promising to "close this city down" with civil disobedience. He and Bell and Benefield and Guzman expected to be arrested. They were taken into custody with a group of about 30 people who held a pray-in near the base of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Police also moved on demonstrators at several other bridges and tunnels in the city, clearing them away. It is not the first time Al Sharpton has led such a protest.

Repeating History

Just less than a decade ago, Sharpton organized a similar demonstration over the acquittal of four police officers who fired 41 shots, fatally striking down an unarmed West African man named Amadou Diallo. Dozens of people involved in that protest were arrested, and Sharpton was among them.

New York Police shooting victim, Amadou Diallo

Lessons learned in this country often quickly fade into obscurity, but the death of Sean Bell, like the February 4th 1999 death of Amadou Diallohas, has erupted into a firestorm of controversy and outrage from people in New York City and throughout the rest of the country over police practices in the Big Apple.

The issues are the same: police brutality, racial profiling, and "contagious shooting" according to Reuters, have been critical aspects that have further driven controversy.

Sharpton is a man that most people either strongly like, or strongly dislike. Some people view him as a threat and the word "racist" has been used against him by whites who are often sore over his unflinching approach, and his tendency to rally for minority causes is often bitterly criticized.

But being a black civil rights leader in America is not exactly a position most people could perform without controversy.

Either way, many people believe that problems revolving around racism and maltreatment of minorities have escalated in recent years, and without loud voices demanding change, little is likely to be accomplished.

Civil Rights History

The American Civil Rights Movement, closely associated with the legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, is generally considered to be the period between 1960 and 1980. Many problems involving the treatment of African Americans began to gain attention in the 1950's with the death of Emmett Till (see: Words of Emmett Till's Cousin Set the Stage for Civil Rights March this Saturday from September 2006 and Cousin of Emmett Till Speaks Tonight at Willamette)

Rosa Parks with Dr. Martin Luther King standing in the background

Then there was Rosa Parks, the woman who refused to go to the back of a bus in the deep south and started a cultural revolution that set into play a new period in this country and made true many things promised by emancipators up to and including President Abe Lincoln himself.

Interestingly, much of the Civil Rights Movement in the southern states, like Alabama, coincided with unrest brought about by the Vietnam War. The coincidences may be just that, but it seems that one discontent brings focus to another and that perhaps some positive strides could come from this latest demonstration as so many were achieved in the 1960's.

Since Reverend Sharpton founded NAN in 1991, thr group has been "a megaphone for the voiceless and an advocate for those in need. NAN has taken on issues relating to voter registration, education, decency and police misconduct."

Today's protests were in part to urge federal investigators to take a closer look at the case that began with Sean Bell's shooting outside of a nightclub in Queens. Since that fatal night, the case has again raised questions about police use of deadly force in minority neighborhoods.

News sources did report Robert Nardoza with the U.S. attorney's office stating today that they have the case is under review, however he declined to comment further.