Freedom Socialist Vol. 29, No. 2 April-May 2008Flimsy prosecution of cops who killed Sean Bellby Megan Cornish The state supreme court in Queens, N.Y., found 100 angry demonstrators waiting for a trial to begin on Feb. 25. They were there to demand justice for Sean Bell, shot and killed by cops the morning of his wedding day. They join a legion of protesters who over the decades have denounced NYPD’s murderous attacks, especially on Black men. Thirty people have been summarily executed by New York and New Jersey police since Bell’s death. While leaving his bachelor party at a club in Jamaica, Queens, Bell, a young Black man, died in an avalanche of 50 police bullets. Two friends were seriously injured. All were unarmed. New York’s prosecution of the mob-style shooters is a sham. Only three of the five officers who fired shots are on trial — two for manslaughter and assault, and one for the mere misdemeanor of reckless endangerment. In the opening days of trial the prosecution featured some witnesses who were more beneficial to the cops’ side. They spent much time on an argument that Bell had with another man who might have been armed. They raised an issue of a small bag of marijuana found on the street. The New York Times described someone who’d been briefed by prosecutors as saying, they had “no fire in the belly” for their case. Of course. Those “law and order” teams stick together. The case against Bell’s killers is a no-brainer. All were undercover cops and several witnesses, including police, reported they didn’t identify themselves as police or issue warnings. Bell’s friends said the victims thought that they were being robbed. The fusillade of bullets alone signals both an intent to kill and reckless endangerment of bystanders. One cop, Michael Oliver, fired 31 times, stopping to reload. People inside houses and on the street two blocks away came under fire! The NYPD attorney tried to get the case moved out of Queens where community outrage has been intense. When this failed, they decided to avoid a jury trial, relying on the same system that fosters police abuse in the first place — judges and district attorneys who are on the same side as the men in blue. Bell and his friends are maligned at the trial. The defense hauls out juvenile records that should be sealed. The press is told that Bell was arrested three times, but not that he was released on personal recognizance each time. They try to discredit several Black witnesses for having police records. This unfinished trial is another searing indictment of a profoundly racist “justice” system and an urgent call for civilian-controlled police review boards with power to prosecute. There should be national outrage over these shootings. |
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