200 Arrested in Massive Show of Civil Disobedience Over Police Acquittals in Killing of Sean Bell

by via Democracy Now

Thu, May 8, 2008 7:44AM

Thursday, May 8, 2008 :More than 200 people have been arrested in a day of protest over acquittal of three police officers in the killing of Sean Bell. The twenty-three-year-old Bell died in a hail of 50 police bullets on the morning of what would have been his wedding day in November 2006. He was unarmed. On Wednesday, demonstrators halted traffic at six busy intersections in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Democracy Now! interviewed protesters on their way to the Lincoln Tunnel.

Various protesters.

More than one thousand people reportedly took part. Among those arrested were Bell’s fiancé, Nicole Paultre Bell; the two surviving shooting victims—Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, and the Reverend Al Sharpton. The four were trailed at the Brooklyn Bridge by a large crowd who kneeled in prayer and counted from one to fifty to mark the number of bullets fired by police. Sharpton says the protests will continue in an effort to build support for federal civil rights charges in Bell’s killing.

LISTEN ONLINE

For more information: http://www.democracynow.org/2008/5/8/200_a...

Add Your Comments

Support Independent Media

We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!