Above the Law: Sean Bell Killers Ruled Innocent
April 28, 2008 — lrubin39Hopefully, most of you are aware of the recent acquittal of the 3 police officers involved in the shooting…and death…of Sean Bell in New York City. (see summary)
Charges against the officers ranged from manslaughter to reckless endangerment. They were cleared on all charges.Sean Bell was unarmed. Neither of the two people with him shot back at the plain-clothes detectives.
How is it that 3 officers can shoot 50 bullets at unarmed men and that not be criminal activity at some level? I just don’t understand how that can be perceived–by anybody–as appropriate behaviour.
I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the situation. Let me know…
April 29, 2008 at 12:40 am
I was going to reserve comment on this one but when I head the verdict I thought, “How come no one got charged with excessive force?” To shoot 50 times at two unarmed men is insane. I pray justice will be enforced at the next level since the judge in this trial wasn’t capable of doing it himself.
April 29, 2008 at 1:36 am
I am beyond furious! The outcome of this case has made me take a second look at the justice system…what JUSTICE system? How can three officers shot and kill a man and not receive anything?? This whole case boggles my mind. I was so upset Friday I could barely focus on my tasks. I feel so much rage and so much hate towards the NYPD, cops period. They already believe they can get away with murder…now they can! It’s utter outrage to say the least. I happen to catch the verdict on app.com and seen some of the comments people we’re making. Bell tried to run the cops over, he shouldn’t have been out that late, he should’ve listen to the “Police”, was the one that raised an eye brow. The cops never identified themselves, one had to RELOAD his gun. He thought it was jammed! After shooting 31 times, my gun would be jammed too! Totally disgusted about the whole thing. Poor soon-to-be wife. Such a heart break to hear she just ran out the courtroom. I believe I would have died right there on the spot. “I feel like they killed Sean all over again!” was what she said. A total outrage! I agree with Yoshi, if nothing else, a charge of excessive force should have been brought up…50 shots? There’s 60 seconds in a minute…so 10 seconds short of a minute, is how many bullets these animals fired!
Total outrage. I hope they lose their jobs, their pensions, family 401(k) plan. WHATEVER! Nothing will compare to the life of a person but there has to be something that could be done. They might not be in jail physically but after it’s all said and done, they will be in prison mentally
April 29, 2008 at 2:34 am
I was in Fl when this verdict came out…all I could think is that all hell is going to break loose in NYC behind this one. I am deeply troubled by this and do hope that his family and those who are immdiately impacted by this lack of justice. I dont think these guys will have a moments peace living working or walkin in NYC after this verdict…it is very sad!
April 29, 2008 at 2:38 am
Sorry about my lack of words in the prior posting…thinking but not writing properly. Can you tell its my first day back on the job after spring break??? LOL Anywho…I do hope that Sean Bell’s family are able to recieve some sort of justice by a higher court on this matter.
April 29, 2008 at 2:44 am
What does justice look like in a situation like this? One man is dead, with 50 bullet holes in him. A woman is without a husband and a child is without a father! It seems like the trend lately is to free criminals from jail time, but compensate the victim’s family with cash settlements on “civil violations”. All the money in the world wont bring Sean back, nor will it keep this officers from doing the same thing, to somebody else.
April 29, 2008 at 4:26 am
I am not surprised. I rarely look to the criminal justice system to effectively mete out justice without a larger agenda at play.
Police officers and Rodney King; Same permutation — different state.
I am waiting to see what happens in civil court. The legal burden for those cases requires proof of negligence which is much easier than proving something “beyond a reasonable doubt”.
“Reasonable doubt” has saved many a behind–both guilty and innocent. But the Bell case CLEARLY has negligence written all over it.
I expect to see a 10-digit-payout on the civil case.
Stay tuned and optimistic.
April 29, 2008 at 5:05 am
My bad–make that 8-figure payout. Had a brain fart.
LOL.
April 30, 2008 at 5:41 am
Da Truth…undoubtedly there is no amount of money or judgement that can be passed in a court of law that will bring back Sean Bell…the verdict wasn’t a slap in the face in was a straight up punch. The family deserves something…as do the families of many others who have had similiar injustices done to them. There is no easy answer!
May 17, 2008 at 12:04 am
Sean Bell was not Ghandi. He was a career criminal with a nice car, clothes and money for strip bars and no tax return for the last few years. Can you say Drug Dealer. That being said he did not deserve to get shot 50 times. But its no tragedy.