Al Sharpton arrested for protesting Sean Bell aquittals

[A Ghost]

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gzt5 ... QD90H4FD00



Sharpton arrested as hundreds protest NYC police shooting

NEW YORK (AP) — The Rev. Al Sharpton was among dozens arrested Wednesday as demonstrators blocked traffic at the height of the evening rush hour to protest the acquittal of three detectives in the 50-bullet shooting of an unarmed black man on his wedding day.

Police estimated that about 190 people were arrested, including Sharpton, two survivors of the shooting and the slain man's fiancee. They lined up and put their hands behind their backs as police arrested them on disorderly conduct charges.

The demonstrators prayed, sang and chanted slogans including "no justice, no peace" as they converged on six heavily used bridges and tunnels that carry traffic to and from Manhattan island. The protests were part of a coordinated campaign to urge federal authorities to investigate the shooting of Sean Bell in November 2006.

The three officers were acquitted of state charges last month in a case that from the start ignited protests and spurred criticism of police tactics. One of the officers fired 31 shots, emptying his clip two times in a few short seconds.

Sharpton has said Wednesday's "pray-in" protest was a preview of potential future demonstrations designed to paralyze the city.

"We're going to keep coming until we get federal indictments. It's wrong," said Frank Rodriguez, a military veteran who brought a homemade model of the shooting scene to the Brooklyn Bridge rally, which began outside police headquarters in downtown Manhattan.

U.S. attorney spokesman Robert Nardoza said the case was under review, but he declined to comment further about a possible federal case.

Sharpton, shooting survivors Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, and Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell — who legally took his name after his death — linked arms as they blocked a street at the Brooklyn Bridge's base.

They were trailed by at least 200 demonstrators who kneeled in prayer in the road and counted to 50 in a reference to the barrage of gunfire that killed Bell.

The arrested protesters were expected to be issued tickets for misdemeanor offenses and be released soon, police said.

On the opposite side of lower Manhattan, an ethnically diverse crowd of about 80 demonstrators chanted, "We're fired up; we won't take it no more," and held hands as the Rev. James E. Booker Jr. blessed the crowd.

"Don't let Sean Bell's death be in vain," said Booker, pastor of St. John A.M.E. Church in Harlem.

After marching to the Holland Tunnel behind a "Stop the Brutality" banner, the protesters blocked two entrances to the tunnel as some sang the civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome." Demonstrators who moved to the sidewalk applauded each time one of their fellow protesters was arrested.

Drivers mostly waited patiently. "I disagree with doing anything illegal, but, hey, this is what makes America great," said Aaron Hanson, a passenger in a car waiting to get into the tunnel. "If this is what people really need to do to make a statement, it's what they should do."

A few miles uptown, some protesters were arrested after blocking traffic into midtown Manhattan on the Queensboro Bridge, while about 200 people rallied near the entrance to the Triborough Bridge in Harlem.

A heavy police presence initially stood by during the demonstrations, allowing the protesters to march unimpeded to the bridges and tunnels where they stopped traffic. Mayor Michael Bloomberg had pledged to "make sure that everybody's rights are protected and that the law is obeyed."

The racially polarizing case has raised questions about police use of deadly force in minority communities. Bell was black, as are two of his friends who were wounded in the shooting; the officers were black, Hispanic and white.

Bell crossed paths with the undercover detectives as he was leaving his bachelor party with friends.

The officers testified they feared for their lives after Bell and his friends got into a testy exchange with another patron and appeared to be going to retrieve a gun; Bell's friends testified the detectives fired wildly and without warning at Bell's car. No gun was ever found.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Wednesday that the police department was continuing to examine the possibility of punishing the detectives.

[$outhPhillypuppet]

One of the officers fired 31 shots, emptying his clip two times in a few short seconds.

WTF???
thats murder right there.
he made for damn sure dude was dead.

[atm//TONE]

that shit so ridiculous

[A Ghost]

One of the officers fired 31 shots, emptying his clip two times in a few short seconds.

WTF???
thats murder right there.
he made for damn sure dude was dead.

You never heard of Sean Bell?

[$outhPhillypuppet]

yeah i heard of dude.
just didnt know ONE cop shot at him 31 times.

[Young Deuce]

i wrote this in Post Ya Flows after i heard the acquiited the case.....


First things first all i gotta say is fu-- the U.S.A./
Anybody gotta problem with what i sayed can get anyway/
Im tired of these punk ass pigs gettin away with shit/
If it was up to me most a get folded like a paper clip/
Then you got these right wing fucks on the streetgangs site/
Talkin shit about anything from saggin to Rev. Wright/
Some of the shit yall say i couldnt believe i was hearin this/
Sayin grownin up most blacks dont have a different experience/
All types of people got they own struggle within they own race/
So get outta here with all that same struggle shit in my face/
To acquitted those pigs of the Sean Bell murder was arrogance/
I say shoot 50 shots at Cooperson let em feel a comparisons/
You ask why the media aint really got a effort of playin this up/
I say the media to busy about the election and on Hillary nuts/
So fu-- what the media sayin ta me, all it is is calamity/
fu-- conservatives, i say we gun down Sean Hannity/

[A Ghost]

Fu-- Fox News

[EmperorPenguin]

Why can't people protest without getting arrested? Now they've just hurt their own cause. No one is going to remember why Sharpton was arrested, just that he was arrested. Headlines are a great example as they're all saying the same thing "Al Sharpton arrested!" people read that and move on. They had the right idea, and a good cause but getting arrested in the end probably didn't help them any.

[Old Shatterhand]

Anyone remember this one?

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEEDD1138F933A05755C0A96F948260

[tysuave]

after what the police did in philly and plus this I guess it's time for blac people to riot again to open up some eyes..

[clipse]

Anyone remember this one?

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEEDD1138F933A05755C0A96F948260

[clipse]

I guess it's time for blac people to riot again to open up some eyes..

Nope, it's time for Black to people to unite and get our own s-hit!

[Old Shatterhand]

I don't think it's trivial. It's happening again right now in fact.

"In May 2008, the Associated Press reported that Sharpton and his businesses owed almost $1.5 million in unpaid taxes and penalties. Sharpton owed $931,000 in federal income tax and $366,000 to New York, and his for-profit company, Rev. Al Communications, owed another $176,000 to the state."

Anyone remember this one?

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEEDD1138F933A05755C0A96F948260