Suburban Guerrilla

Cops Not Guilty in Sean Bell Killing

Apr 25th, 2008 at 11:56 am by Susie

I hate to comment on individual cases when I wasn’t sitting on the jury, but damn, cops are always acquitted no matter what, aren’t they? Fifty shots…

Posted in Class War, Life in the Big City

8 Responses to “Cops Not Guilty in Sean Bell Killing”

on 25 Apr 2008 at 12:19 pm1zuzu

I’m not really surprised. It’s hard to prove the intent element in a line-of-duty case.

In any event, any real change will come from a civil rights suit that asks for injunctive as well as monetary relief. Because I guarantee you that a criminal verdict would not change anything the NYPD does, but a judge’s order or a consent decree would. The NYPD does not like to make changes voluntarily.
on 25 Apr 2008 at 12:35 pm2zuzu

Oh, also: there wasn’t a jury in this case. The defendants elected not to have one, which is pretty standard in criminal cases in which the cops are defendants.

Which means that there’s a written opinion supporting the verdict.
on 25 Apr 2008 at 6:29 pm3Nancy

they really are. this is really sad. i’d be so angry if i were his fiancee; his family must be appalled.
on 25 Apr 2008 at 9:31 pm4Kevin

Fifty shots is more than enough for a savage who trys to run a cop over. Soooooo sorry for the loss! This wasn’t Colin Powell or Obama who was shot, that would be a tradgedy, this was a perp; the end!
on 26 Apr 2008 at 10:21 am5Mold

Could you please include the statements from the court that stated the witnesses having problems with telling the truth? Could you include the idea that many of the witnesses are known prevaricators? Could you assume innocence until proven guilty?
on 26 Apr 2008 at 5:17 pm6Chris

“This case was not about justice,” declared Leroy Gadsden, chair of the police/community relations committee of the Jamaica Branch NAACP. “This case was about the police having a right to be above the law. If the law was in effect here, if the judge had followed the law truly, these officers would have been found guilty. …

“This court, unfortunately, is bankrupt when it comes to justice for people of color.”

I don’t really see how many more times we can go through with this. This fucking judge obviously has a very ambiguous view of the law and it makes me sick. You almost have to expect that anytime trigger-happy cops “accidentally” or intentionally kill unarmed civilians, they will be cleared. It makes zero sense, but you almost feel obligated to accept it. I do not accept it.

These particular cops acted above the law. They had been drinking, forgot to identify themselves when they drew their weapons and then started shooting. 50 times. Fuck that if I was in a car and some dude pulls a gun on me, you better believe I’m going to try and run him over. 50 times out of 50. Even Dick Cheney knows when his gun’s done the job. 50 trigger pulls and no return fire. At which point do you realize you’ve made a serious error in judgement? Apparently after your weapons have been discharged 50 times.

Then Patrick Lynch, president of the New York Police Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, has the nerve to say “there’s no winners, there’s no losers” in the case. Not sure if he knows that techinically death counts as a loss. Someone did lose and Sean Bell’s wife, kids and family will continue to lose, because their partner, father and friend was recklessly taken away from them. And, getting off without even a slap on the wrist counts as winning in this warped society. The fact that these murderers will be out “protecting and serving” the public makes me very afraid.

No matter how strong, fast, or intelligent you are, a belligerent, drunk someone with a gun always beats someone without a gun. So yes Patrick Lynch, they actually did win and Sean Bell and his friends lost. We make it a fair next time, the outcome will probably be different and at some point it very well might be. Karma ALWAYS comes to get you.

Keep fighting,

CA
on 27 Apr 2008 at 1:25 pm7Bob

If I were at the wheel of a car and the police told me to stop and I tried to run them over, I would fully expect to be plugged with lead. However, that’s assuming the cops are in uniform. If Chris is correct that these cops had been drinking, were not in uniform, and didn’t identify themselves, then I have a big problem with what happened, too. I’d also say that the news media hasn’t done a very good job of reporting on these very relevant details.
on 28 Apr 2008 at 4:39 pm8Robert Galinsky

CALLING anyone WHO HAs SOMETHING TO SAY (FORWARD THIS TO THOSE YOU THINK WILL BE INTERESTED)

JOIN US IN UNION SQUARE PARK AND EXPRESS YOURSELF IN THE NEW YORK FILM ACADEMY’S

“I’m Mad As Hell…”

video series

TOMORROW TUESDAY APRIL 29TH, 10AM-5PM RAIN OR SHINE

Shooting in the South End of Union Square Park, under the Red NYFA Tent

*Upset with something? Perhaps a recent court verdict? Perhaps the election process? Perhaps our pop culture has you thinking….?

******IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THE SEAN BELL VERDICT, WE ARE GOING TO CAPTURE AND PRESENT ALL SEAN BELL RELATED MATERIALS AND SET UP A SPECIAL AREA ON YOU TUBE.******

Speak out, comment and sound off on any subject you like. We want 30 seconds to one minute of your opinion/performance! We will shoot and post it on You Tube for the world to see and hear you.

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Cops Not Guilty in Sean Bell Killing

8 Responses to “Cops Not Guilty in Sean Bell Killing”

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