Justice Arthur Cooperman's delivery of the not guilty verdict in a crowded Queens courtroom provoked an outpouring of emotions.
(MAHWAH, N.J.) - The police in New York City,they chased a boy right through the park.And in a case of mistaken identitythey put a bullet through his heart.
Heart breakers with your forty four,I wanna tear your world apart,you heart breaker with your forty four,I wanna tear your world a part.
~ Rolling Stones lyrics to Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) from 1973.
Americans have a right to be outraged today over the acquittal of three detectives in New York who shot an unarmed and mistakenly identified bridegroom over 50 times. They were cut loose today by a New York judge without a slap on the wrist.
Details are emerging about NYPD's fatal shooting of Sean Bell late last year. The 23-year old unarmed man was killed and two of his friends were wounded outside a Queens nightclub on November 25th, the eve of what would have been Bell’s wedding day.
The incident, in which two of the five officers were initially indicted on manslaughter charges and a third faced lesser charges, sparked numerous protests in New Yorker City. People took to the streets by the thousands.
Five officers delivered a barrage of 50 shots, total Bonnie-and-Clyde-style, in 2007.
One officer by himself fired 31 bullets from his gun. As they shot the innocent man to death, he actually took the time to reload.
Get ready America, because much of our state and city governments (like New York) are unjust and dangerous and highly un-American. It is sad that it took Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, a British rock band, to bring attention to the wanton and illegal acts of New York Police 35 years ago. It is even sadder that those acts have continued.
MSNBC reports that the Justice Department’s "Principles for Promoting Police Integrity" states that officers are authorized to use deadly force "only when it is reasonable and necessary to protect the officer or others from imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or another person."
Unarmed men, acquitted police
Justice Arthur Cooperman's delivery of the "not guilty" verdict in a crowded Queens courtroom provoked an outpouring of emotions, media sources report.
The whole justification seems to be based around the fact that Bell's vehicle was pulling away from a curb as the shooting began. The judge and other experts apparently believe that the moving car is a "deadly weapon" and even though the innocent men were mistakenly identified, it seems the act of simply driving his own car led to Sean Bell's death.
Sean Bell's fiancee and parents were in court to hear the verdict, along with at least 200 people who gathered outside the building. Reporters say Bell's fiancee wept as they left the courtroom.
The detective who fired the fatal shots, Michael Oliver, also cried.
To Protect and Serve
Let's remember a couple of things. Most people do not become police officers. Of those who do, it is strictly a voluntary choice, much like our military. There should be less than zero tolerance for the people who coined that very phrase, when it comes to law breaking.
When the people placed in positions of authority conduct themselves as criminals, then the punishments they receive should be steep. What example do they set for the public, and their peers, if not?
Police take the position that they have a very dangerous job and that mistakes happen, that is true. Common sense tells us that there is no perfect scenario. But, this perverted example of police criminality is about the three men who ended the life and future dreams of Sean Bell, a man who had done nothing wrong.
It would be one thing if they were held accountable, but they are not. This means that, as has been true in the past, the future will be another cycle of irresponsible police, condoned by the government, and a society again turning against them.
New York: Where Police Killings of Innocent Men are LegalSalem-News.com