NEWS: COPS ACQUITTED IN SEAN BELL CASE

April 25th, 2008

A crowd reacts to the verdict in the Sean Bell shooting case outside the Queens County Criminal Courts Building in New York Friday, April 25.

Three detectives were acquitted of all charges Friday in the killing of Sean Bell. Bell died after being bombarded with 50 bullets by the New York Police Department back in 2006.

Detectives Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora were found not guilty of charges of manslaughter, assault and reckless endangerment in the death of Sean Bell, 23, and the wounding of two of his friends. Detective Marc Cooper was acquitted of reckless endangerment.

Justice Arthur Cooperman said he found problems with the prosecution’s case. He said some prosecution witnesses contradicted themselves, and he cited prior convictions and incarcerations of witnesses.

As the judge read his decision, Nicole Paultre Bell — Sean Bell’s fiancee — ran from the courtroom crying, saying, “I’ve got to get out of here.”

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Backstory

In the early morning hours of Nov. 25, 2006, Sean Bell, a 23-year-old New York City man due to be married later that day, walked out of a Queens strip club, climbed into a gray Nissan Altima with two friends who had been celebrating with him – and died in a hail of 50 bullets fired by a group of five police officers.

The shooting shocked the city and brought back memories of the deaths in other high-profile police shootings – in particular, the death of Amadou Diallo, an African peddler killed after police fired 41 shots at him in 1999. Both men were black and both were unarmed, although in both cases the officers appeared to have believed the suspect had a gun. While the death of Mr. Bell did not prompt the same levels of rage and protest as the Diallo case, it prompted unsettling questions about the changes in police procedures adopted in recent years, and about whether black men remained unfairly singled out for aggressive police action.

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( Photos: Splash News / AP Photo )
  1. 1.
    Mel

    actually Tabby I agree with you to a certain degree. I think it is bad he is gone, and that force did not have to be used. I pray for his wife and children because drug dealer or not he was loved, and that is something that hurts.

    But he is right we all get worked up when a case comes to light in the media and we call it unfair, but this is a everyday thing in some parts of america and yet we say and do nothing. We kill each other like it is second nature. Innocent bystanders get killed in cold blood everyday, and yet we turn the channel and dismiss it.

    We need to be held accountable for our part in this and start making some changes. Things are the same right now because we are still blaming others. In anything you can never change untill yourealize that there is something that needs to be changed.

    Volunteer at the local schools and talk to these kids, you would be amazed and how misguided they are. It hurts me how bad that they are so lost. There morals and all screwed up. But if you are hurt by this channel that into change.

    /0
  2. 2.
    Truth

    We come no closer because we only come together when something like this happens, when major tragedies happen like 9/11. When the dust settles back on the block we talk about one another like crabs in a bucket try and pull one another down. We see on sites like this everyday as we talk about the celebs how they look how they act…. we are not a people of unity… other races come tot his country and “live the american dream” they take full advantage of the resources the options. Most times people are trying to beat the system or try hard to make the system work for them… get upset and say nothing is going to change.. how do you expect change if you are part of the problem..

    All this complaining going on about this case what have you done for your community? What have you offered to help change? It’s easy for us to complain and say some words but how will you put those words into action?

    I’m sorry that young man had to lose his life, I’m sorry two children lost a father, two parents lost a son, a woman lost her husband to be. Of course no one should lose their life like that and I’m sure if there was a rewind button everyone will use it… but guess what? There is no rewind button we have to move forward change isn’t created by your anger it’s created by action. We always want to riot and they laugh at us and call us monkeys to see us destroy our own neighborhoods. We come together in the name of destruction like they give a damn that we are tearing up our community… They laugh everytime they see us on television cooning to music. You expect justice? 89% of the NYC cops don’t even live in the neighboorhoods they patrol and live outside of NY cap that with a scared ass cop in a situation with gun. what do you have? A dead black man!

    The common man will receive no justice until you are deemed respectable… Sean Bell may have been judged by the company he kept it could have been 2 shots that killed him it still wouldn’t have mattered.

    /0
  3. 3.
    JUDAH

    @196

    The “anti-police” media, lmao? Where do you live?

    /0
  4. 4.
    Salma

    This here ain’t right at all. The man wasnt armed nor was he or his friends dangerous to the cops. I dont understand how these people can get away with murder and Wisley Sniper can be locked up for tax. I know it’s different issue but lets look at it this way. I hate to play racial card agaisnt this mutherfuckers bt i am so pissed off right now. Ok lets see how many white people have done crimes. There is Paris Hilton,Nicole Richie, Lindsay Lohan,Mischa Barton, Mel Gibson..the list goes on and all these people who were driving under the influence of alcohol. This shit is a crime because you could kill someone and yourself too but what do they get? A pat on the back and 24 hours of jail time. There is waaay more white people who are celebrities getting away with every shit that they do, but wait until when they get to a black ass. They will lock your ass in jail. My question is why all these white people gettin so little time in jail or send their asses in rehab but when black person do something they send your ass in jail for good time?

    Now lets see we have Foxy Brown, Lil Kim, Mystkal(sp?), and the list goes on of black celebrities who done serve their time for some issues that they arent even there to be beggin with. Now lemme start with Snipes. Ok i know some of yall hate him for one reason or the other. But lets see how many white/hispanic celebrities that didnt pay their taxes. Did any of them receive any amount of jail time? I dont think so. But we have to ask our selves why is Snipes receiving jail time of 3 years and fine of $5 million for tax and others dont? I understand that when you do a crime you have to do the time but these Judges and Prosecutors have to play a fair card.

    Now its Sean Bell’s case.Why are those cops free when they shot an innocent man wit 50 bullets. 50 MUTHERFUCKING BULLETS Yall and they get no time in jail? That is a fucking crime and there should not be any excuse for them fucking people. They murdered someone who was innocent to begin with. They took someone’s son, someone’s father and neverless someone’s fiance. That man was going to wife up someone. He was someone’s fiance. He was at his party going home. But as soon as those cops came through these people done lost it and shot an innocent man. Now i am not a judge nor a lawyer but i know when a fair deal is played and this one isnt FAIR to begin with. We have murderes cops who are free to go back on the street and we have a man who lost his life and left people with sadness that will never go away.

    Our society needs to realize that no metter what colour your, you have to get the time you deserve. I dont understand why these white people get so little time in jail and all these black people get enough amount of time in JAIL. Like i said i am not gon play a race card here but this is some fucking bullshyt you cant tell me those cops are innocent for fucking killing a man with 50 bullets. You dont need to study law to get it right. Our colour will always be the pointing finger at as long as we live. Imma give yall an example of a crime happened in Canada on Boxing day

    First i am agaisnt crime and i dislike crimes, i wish this world was safe for all of us. Now in canada, after Xmas day there is a boxing day shyt. A white girl was shot to death. And nobody knew who the shooter was. My heart really went out for their family because i never lost someone in a crime bt i lost so many people and i know how it feels to lose the ones you love. But the real shyt was, we have so many black kids getting killed and these cops always telling the media we have no lead nor witness. Now this girl’s case they had no lead nor a witness but their asses worked it off and focused on this girl’s killer so badly. They really paid attention to this case like it was the only first murder case. Now they found the person who did it and who knows what happened now but my reason of giving you guys this example is that. Why they were so interested on finding this girl’s killer and everytime when a black kid is gunned down nothing happens. All we hear is “POLICE HAVE MADE NO ARREST TO THE SHOOTING”. why cant it be ” WE’RE WORKING VERY SERIOUS ON THIS CASE AND WE PROMISE TO FIND THE SHOOTER”? Did they focus on that case cuz she was a white girl that had been gunned down?. Why do white people have to get the special treatment thru everything? It pains me to see that we always have to be stabbed in the back.

    We need a fair deal one way or the other. My sisters and brothers, lets get out of the streets, lets go back to school and finish our education. We need more black lawyers and Judges. I am sick and tired of this law they have for us. THESE COPS NEEDS TO BE IN JAIL. And I am praying that justice will be served in either way or the other in the name of GOD these cops will get what’s coming to them. A killer shouldn’t be walking in the streets PERIOD.

    REST IN PEACE SEAN BELL AND JUSTICE WILL BE SERVED one day.

    REST IN PEACE JANE.

    /0
  5. I don’t mean to be petty, but out of respect for Sean Bell and the Bell family, Concrete Loop I wouldn’t have made any new posts after this one.

    /0
  6. 6.
    DH

    Did Webster’s change the definition of guilty this morning?

    /0
  7. 7.
    west

    this is some messed up shit…how can you be a judge and let some killers go free…that stupid a** judge..and to see that white muthafucking cop leaving out the courts with a slight smile…i’m reading every news blog just wanting it be a MISTAKE …”say it aint so LORD” IS WHAT I’M THINKING… i dont’t even know BELL but it hurt me so badly when i heard those killers got off…its a dame shame..

    /0
  8. @59 Why would a God of love give life, then take it away by using evil cops to viciously gun down and ferociously kill this beautful young man BECAUSE IT WAS HIS TIME? What sense does that make? It doesnt, blame the right people- the PIG evil cops.

    These PIGS have killed yet another innocent black man for nothing They are wicked, corrupt and lower than dog dung. They probably were jealous that these guys were having a good time. Whatever the case, it will NEVER be right to kill someone just because of the lie they came up with to cover themselves – “we thought he had a weapon”.

    @59, I wonder if this vicious crime happened to your husband, brother, cousin, friend, etc.. if you would still feel like, “Oh well, It was his time”.

    WICKED COPS STOP THE KILLING, STOP KILLING OUR MEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    P.S. Even after all this protest people, these cops are still gonna gun down our men until God step in. Sad but true. :(

    /0
  9. 9.
    chillain villain

    this is a tragedy, for sure. especially that someone died.

    i don’t care what his rap sheet was, what he was doing at the time as long as it was legal.

    i didn’t read all the comments, but has ANYONE read what the judge wrote? i think the judge said that the car was surrounded by police and he attempted to back out and hit a police van and almost ran over a police officer.

    that is assault with deadly force or something. if someone had attempted to run one of my friends over, i would try to shoot them, too.

    plus, 3 cops shot, so if each clip had 15 rounds, that’s 45 shots. you don’t know if the shot once it hits the car is going to keep going straight.

    i feel bad for this whole situation but if the guy tried to get away, then this would be the outcome.

    /0
  10. 10.
    smitty

    I would like to say that despite these three men being deemed innocent in the new york court of law. The judge, and whoever else corrupted this case all have to answer to GOD’S court of law.

    MAY HE HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOULS!

    My prayers go out to the bell family.

    /0
  11. 11.
    msrook

    NO WORDS……………

    /0
  12. 12.
    blackisbeautiful

    This was sad. I think the Police officers abused their authority and got away with it. We will never receive justice. How the hell can you shoot someone 50 times because you thought he has a gun? That I can’t grasp.

    /0
  13. 13.
    Have Not Thought of a New User Name

    Mick Vick is in jail behind a dog! and tree police officers shoot an unarmed man 50 times and the get no jail time? A dog is worth more than a black man in this country smh.

    /0
  14. 14.
    chillain villain

    can someone look and find out if the murdered individual was in a car and driving towards police officers?

    if i drive towards police officers, i’d expect to get shot at. and the closer i was to hitting them, the more bullets i would expect.

    /0
  15. 15.
    TeTe(didnt feel like loggin in)

    im so fucking pissed off..this is some FUCKING BULLSHIT!this brought tears to my eyes,i remember when this first happened and i just knew they were going to ROT IN JAIL…but these racist motherfuckers got away with it….

    somebody already mentioned this but HOW THE HELL THEY GIVE MICHAEL VICK TIME FOR SOME BULLSHIT ASS DOGS?im pissed

    /0
  16. 16.
    KELLY

    It is awful what happened. With society as it is today where every corner has a shooting at least once a week it seems, these officers and others are bound to react to someone reaching for their pocket. I can’t see how it can be “racist” when two of the officers are themselves black. It was certainly a bad area they were in. I surely don’t think it was intentional to just shoot a black man when like I said they were themselves black.

    It seems to me that racism is kept alive by the black race. after all they have NAACP, Ms. black america, black FOP, and on and on and on. Yet let a white person try that…..oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo noooooooooooooooo! come on give it up. This is 2008 and everyone has an equal chance to do and be whatever they want to do or be. If as much effort was put forth to become something as it is to preserve racism we’d all be better off.

    /0
  17. 17.
    Bree

    @ #209
    That is how I felt. When I read that they were acquitted, I thought I had the meaning of the word all wrong all along. So I opened the dictionary to look. I am not trying to be funny. I am dead serious!

    /0
  18. 18.
    Viviane

    I’m sad. But remember this, even though justice has not been given by humans, it will be seen to by God.

    PostScript: HAVINAFIT it is not possible for the black male to go instinct. that in my opinion is extreme nonsense since there are millions of black male populating this earth. In Africa, here in the States, in Europe and so on and so forth.

    /0
  19. 19.
    boomby .

    yess i was sooo pissed when i saw this on tru tv this morning ..ugh

    /0
  20. 20.
    KDUBB

    POLICE NEED TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE!! THE LAW IS DESIGNED TO SAVE THE WHITES! THE BLACK OFFICERS WHO SHOT FIRST ARE A PRIME EXAMPLE OF BLACKS FEELING A NEED TO BE EXCEPTED BY THE WHITE MAN! NO ONE LIKE TO HEAR THAT PHRASE BUT IT TRUE AS HELL! LOOK, YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD OF A WHITE OFFICER BEATING OR SHOOTING A WHITE MAN OR FEMALE BY ACCIDENT! THEY ARE SO PASSIVE AND LEANIENT ON THEIR PEOPLE BUT BLACKS ARE LIKE STUPID HOUSE NIGGAZ TRYING TO BE EXCEPTED. YOU GUYS WILL NEVER BE EXCEPTED FULLY. I HOPE THIS HAUNTS THEM FOREVER. IT WAS SO UNCALLED FOR, THIS IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF A GUN-HOE TRIGGA HAPPY DETECTIVE WHO THINKS THEIR ABOVE THE LAW! IT WAS OVER KILL FOR NO REASON!! NO WEAPONS FOUND SO LIKE ALWAYS, ALL THE WHITES COME TOGETHER TO HANG THE NIGGAZ! NO MATTER HOW MANY THINGS THEY DIG UP ON MR. BELL HE WAS UNARMED! HE COULDN’T DRIVE THE CAR AND HOLD A GUN! THIS IS A GOT DAMN SHAME AND THE BLACKS BETTER WAKE THE HELL UP AND START HAVING EACH OTHER BACKS LIKE THE WHITES HAVE EACH OTHERS BACK! STOP GOING AGAINST YOUR PEOPLE TO GAIN THE RESPECT OF THESE RACIST WHITES WHO WANT TO SEE US KILL EACH OTHER OFF! THIS INCIDENT SHOULD NEVER HAD HAPPENED NOT TO MENTION THE COPS GETTING AQUITTED FOR THEIR WRECKLESS BEHAVIOR! TRUST AND BELIEVE IF THOSE WERE WHITE BOYS AND ONE GOT SHOT A FEW HOURS BEFORE HIS MARRIAGE, THE WHITES WOULD HAVE SEEN THAT SO UNLAWFUL AND THEY WOULD HAVE FOUND THOSE BLACK HOUSE NIGGA COPS GUILTY, THEY WOULD HAVE TURNED THEIR BACKS ON THEM AND LET THEM GET HUNG! DON’T YOU UNCLE TOM ASS NIGGAZ GET IT, THEY WILL NEVER EXCEPT A NIGGA! I AM SO ASHAMED OF THOSE BLACK OFFICERS. THEY WERE WRONG, IT WAS OVER KILL AND NO WEAPONS WAS FOUND WHAT THE HECK DOES IT TAKE FOR A BLACK MAN TO GET JUSTICE. COME ON, BLACK PEOPLE YALL BETTER GET IT TOGETHER AND START SUPPORTING EACH OTHER AND STOP PULLING EACH OTHER DOWN. STOP BEING SO HATEFUL AND LARSONHEARTED, WANNA BE’S! LEARN HOW TO LOVE YOURSELF AND YOUR PEOPLE! I’M SO ASHAMED AT HOW THE BLACKS IN THE WORLD HAVE TURNED OUT TO BE! MARTIN LUTHER KING WOULD BE SO DISAPPOINTED IN HIS PEOPLE!

    /0
  21. that just shows how the legal system is how you shot somebody 50 f***ing times and not be guilty thats just messed up

    /0
  22. 22.
    boomby .

    ans someone made a GREAT point wesley gets 3 yrs for taxes and ish. but dese niggas dont get ne thing …wth !? justice was NOT served !!!! i cant believe this . in the 90′s ma cousin got shot 15 times by cops [for no reason]..he didnt die but hes paralyzed and the cops were not found guilty either

    /0
  23. Black folks we desperately need so UNITY!!! I want to cry for fiance sooo bad.

    /0
  24. THAT IS SO BULL SHIT I DON’T THINK THAT’S FAR @ ALL

    /0
  25. 25.
    CeCe

    R.I.P Sean Bell….the real Justice will be UP THERE…We cry for you down here

    /0
  26. 26.
    Tiff

    This is pure bullshit! There is no justification for gunning a man down worse than you do an animal! Prior incarcerations? Are you serious? That judge needs to be hurt! I am from South Jamaica Queens and there are cops posted everywhere in case of a riot! Everyone needs to be rallying the just like they did for the Jena 6!
    No Justice, No Peace!

    /0
  27. 27.
    nisha

    “racism still alive people be concealing it”-Kanye

    /0
  28. 28.

    Oh my gosh,this is SO SAD,I’m welling up with tears,I can’t believe the amount of hatred this world is full of…
    I’m definitely keeping his whole family in my prayers
    Why? My gosh he was so young,why?

    /0
  29. 29.
    Aisha

    How you mean by what I said “it was his time to go” regardless this is tragic. It was his time to go. Everyone has a birthday and death day.

    Somethings God just don’t let us to know, okay. I’m not trying to step on anybody toes or anything. Surely as we as we are born we will die! You all act like I’m saying he should’ve gotten shot up. It’s life! No man knows when he will die; that’s why the saying “an untimely death” makes no sense to say! because none of us knows when that time is. How can you call it “untimely” when you don’t know when the time is? I lost 3 babies at birth so I know the lost. Should I have screamed “why me Lord” or my babies were too young to die! No, God has his reasons for everything. I lost 3 sons, so, yes it’s tragic and it’s hard but we have a lesson in all this.

    Maybe the lesson is for blacks in general, when we going to stop hating on each other so much? when we going to respect ourselves and demand it from others? I have never seen any other race of people get shot up this many times and get off. When we going to rally and unite for real? When we going to stay united and not forget about it in a month or so? The fake Jews are still talking about a holocaust that Americans didn’t have anything to do with. Yet, we feel their pain and can’t feel our own. We should honor this young man by uniting stronger. We should let his death be a symbol for all that is wrong with this society towards people of color.

    It’s my opinion and I’m entitled to mines;nothing happens by mistake even if it’s tragic.

    My prayers for the Bell family and any other family that is “Terrorize” by the Racist System. You want me to send my sons to die for this country; yet you can’t stop randomly killing him on the street. WTF? No way!

    /0
  30. 30.
    Jamie872006

    THAT IS SO SAD THEY KNOW GOOD AS WELL THEM OFFICERS NEED TO SERVE SOME TIME FOR SHOOTING A YOUNG INNOCENT MAN.

    /0
  31. 31.
    boomby .

    i still cant get over this, im in aww . tears even came in my eyes just lookin at nicole.

    /0
  32. 32.
    MellyLoca

    I HOPE THE SAME THING DOES NOT HAPPENED TO THAT DUMB ASS COP THAT KILLED JAYSON TIRADO FROM L.E.S. THE COP WAS OFF DUTY AND KILLED HIM. YOU CAN GOOGLE JAY’S NAME. IT WAS ALL OVER THE NEWS IN OCT 07. SEAN BELL’S FIANCE WAS THERE TO SHOW SUPPORT.

    /0
  33. 33.
    Shag

    COPS NEED TO BE REGULARLY TESTED FOR STEROID USE!!!!!!

    I have been bodybuilding in L.A. for over 30 years, never used steroids because of all the may side effects( genital shrinkage, balding, rage, heart and kidney problems, etc.,). But I know for a fact that many cops use them and they should be testes. ‘Roids make people super aggressive. As much money as cities payout for cop abuse, you’d think they’d be interested, but not.
    There was a case in Compton that was just settled. The cops shot at a guy over 100 times, and thankfully he didn’t die. The city just had to pay a humongous settlemment. This shit needs to end.

    /0
  34. 34.
    Lori

    This is outrageous man how can you shot an unarmed person so many times and not be guilty?

    /0
  35. 35.
    The Truth

    I guess this is America for you…I just don’t get it. Something has to change.

    /0
  36. 36.
    Liz

    If this isn’t excessive, then I don’t know what is! This was clearly a case of aggressive and *probably* racist police officers. Doesn’t matter if the officers were black, we all know that black skin doesn’t immune you from making racist assumptions about people and acting on them. They were irresponsible and should be punished for their actions. This shouldn’t have happened let alone to an UNARMED man!!! 50 TIMES….really….now come on…50 times…AND one of the officers reloaded! I’m heartbroken for this man’s family. No one deserves this.

    /0
  37. 37.
    MISS LADY

    I remember when I first heard this story. This is such an injustice and I pray for his fiancee and children. This breaks my heart in so many ways

    /0
  38. 38.
    damn

    I don’t mean to agitate the massess more then this verdict already has but I found this NYPD forum and check out the quotes from these mother F*ckers. Just copy and paste it.

    http://theerant.yuku.com/topic/3166?page=6

    “Woke up this morning and I got myself a GUunnn, I say I got myself a gun”

    /0
  39. 39.
    KNOCKKEY

    WTF

    /0
  40. 40.
    DONTCLOSEYOUREYESOPENIT

    I KNOW THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!! BEING BLACK IN AMERICA MAKES IT OKAY TO GET KILLED..AS A BLACK EDUCATED MALE I CAN WALK THE STREETS AND IN ANY COPS EYE (NO MATTER WHAT RACE) IN NEW YORK IM A SUSPECT..THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ANY1..OPEN YOUR EYES..I DONT CARE ABOUT THE TESTIMONIES FOR COPS TO SHOT AT A CAR 50 TIMES AND ITS OKAY IS BEYOND ME..OPEN YOUR EYES..THOSE COPS SHOT AT THEM BECAUSE THEY WERE BLACK AND THAT MAKES THEM SUSPECT ENOUGH

    /0
  41. 41.
    YEAH OKAY

    You know I had hope that after the Katrina tragedy black people would REALLY wake up but even that didn’t change anything cause a few weeks later people just forgot and moved on when to this day some people suffer from the consequences of that fiasco. But when you talk about it people don’t seem to care. If all those lives being neglected didn’t wake up black people you think THIS ONE will?? Black people used to take it to the streets, not anymore.

    Nobody will care for blacks if blacks don’t care for blacks. People see how we react to this and take notes. They treat us how we treat ourselves. Respect and power have very few to do with being a “majority”. Jews are a minority in America and people are scared of them. When you look at the world, white people are THE MINORITY (about 11% of the worldwide population) and THE WHOLE WORLD is scared of them.

    Think about that.

    We gotta stop moving on so fast everytime a tragedy like that happens if we want things to change.

    /0
  42. 42.
    CG

    The judge had to look at the totatilty of circumstances, the officers were acting in accordance to training and it was what any prudent and reliable officer would have done. Now this is by no means to say that this is right. I believe with all my heart as a law enforcement professional and I can tell you from all the training I have received that the officers were wrong. First…if the subject or suspects did not comply with the orders given by the officers and drove the vehicle in the direction of an officer who feared for his life, that officers training indicates that he immediately seek cover. Why? because the commands given may or may not have been heard, the subject or suspect may or may not have been impaired. You do not fire into a moving vehicle which may have innocent CHILDREN, ELDERS, aboard. BAD Training, LEADS to BAD Decisions when it count. NY State should be held accountable!!!

    /0
  43. 43.
    sasha

    THEY NEED TO APPEAL THIS CASE. THIS IS COMPLETE INJUSTICE. TO BAD THE LATE GREAT MR.COCKRAN IS NOT AROUND TO DEFEND THIS FAMILY. I HOPE THEY GO BACK AND PROBE WHAT’S LEFT OF THE JUSTICE SYSTEM FOR THEIR FARE SHARE.

    /0
  44. 44.
    Cherelle

    All I can say is that this is messed up what is our world coming to. A change needs to come about immediatly or the world we live in is going to go down the drain. My thoughts and prayers are with Ms. Bell and their daughter. And just remember this whole experience will only make you stronger so keep your heads up and keep GOD first.

    /0
  45. 45.
    The Princess

    I don”t know what to think of this…I started to think it was a racial matter but then i realized that 2 of the 3 cops were African American….I read on cnn that the judge said he was having a problem with one of the witnesses bc he was very combative on the stand…I mean what do you expect 16 of those 50 shots were lodged in his body and 4 of those bullets still remain in his body bc they were in a dangerous area…I am a middle school teacher in atlanta and it pains me to see our young black boys taken out of the school in cuffs bc they are bringing 9mm guns to school and selling weed out of their lockers…They dont undestand that the world outside the confines of the school is REAL and its not nice AT ALL to the black man…

    /0
  46. 46.
    MW09

    I CAN NOT BELIEVE, THIS PLEASE TELL ME THIS IS A NIGHTMARE!!!!!!! THIS IS UNREAL, we can’t even fathom what Nicole and her family is feeling right now……….

    /0
  47. Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives Endowment Association, responded angrily to Sharpton’s suggestion that the verdicts were unfair.
    “That’s despicable for him to say that because we have the greatest criminal justice system on earth,” he said.

    Greatest criminal justice system his ass outta be shot for that comment. He maybe in charge of helping cop families who die in the line of fire but what about Bells family. His fiancee, his kids?

    May God continue to keep the family in his grace and may they continue to fight until justice prevails.

    /0
  48. 48.
    ja

    Here we go again with half the news.

    Yall need to read more than concreteloop. Did we know that one of the persons with the party that included Bell did have a gun? Did we know that Bell was a known drug dealer? We not going to tell that. Why the hell were we not protesting the drug dealing. Bell had been arrested three times, twice for drug dealing and once for a firearms possession. In all cases, he was released on his own recognizance. When are we going to learn. I feel for the girl taht she lost her babydaddy, but that man was lost to the streets as soon as he started selling drugs.

    /0
  49. 49.
    itzzzkimmm

    Wow I am appalled by the decision. That is a tragedy that an innocent man died, and his killers are acquitted. That is just wrong.

    /0
  50. 50.
    DONTCLOSEYOUREYESOPENIT

    @ 251 I have been stopped several times because i look like the “suspect” i have no record..this didnt happen to long ago with Dialo.. the police didnt know about this past so why is his past an issue..In New York as i said black = suspect..no matter what..this is a race issue..NYPD BLUE vs blacks!! NYPD blue can be chinese, lation, white, and black and STILL believe a black male is a suspect..I live this in NY.. I KNOW!!
    For one thing Im not surprise by this verdict.

    /0
  51. 51.
    ja

    oh yea who is They? All the officer were black except for two that makes five black officers. Oh they all must hate black people.

    /0
  52. 52.
    i'm just here for the free food

    when i read this morning on yahoo! news i wanted to just scream!!!
    the laws in this society are unjust, but karma is still abound.

    /0
  53. 53.
    DONTCLOSEYOUREYESOPENIT

    they are NYPD blue always suspect that black (and latino) people are suspect!! I didnt say anything about the race of the NYPD hence saying any race of NYPD think like that..

    /0
  54. 54.
    silly_rabbit

    This makes me wanna scream and cry. This world is so wrong, man. It’s just WRONG. :(

    This goes beyond just pissing me off. I’m so sick and tired of this mess. It just never goes away.

    /0
  55. 55.
    shannon

    I haven’t posted here in a while but I felt so heartbroken when I heard about this and I knew that I could come to CL and share my thoughts on it instead of going somewhere like MSN or CNN messageboards where there would be people actually justifying these cops actions.

    A few years back in my city a fourteen year old black male had taken his moms car. After being found and surrounded by cops in a “nicer neighborhood”, this unarmed boy was eventually shot in the head and killed by an officer who claimed that the boy tried to run him over. That same summer a white teen was brought in peacefully after taking the cops on a high speed chase and shooting at them. I don’t care what anyone else thinks-this society still thinks of us as sub-human.

    This story about Bell and all the other stories of injustice that we hear about in the future (and there WILL be more) won’t matter because eventually we will become preoccupied with the lastest music single or who’s starring in the lastest movie. Someone said it earlier-we are quick to forget(does anyone still remember Jena6?) and I’m starting to think that most of us are just to used to this type of treatment to care:( I still care.

    /0
  56. 56.
    algie

    say it # 52!!! wow i pray for the family.all i can say is just when you think america has come far its situations like this that remind you just how faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar we still got to go.

    /0
  57. 57.
    damn

    http://theerant.yuku.com/topic/3166?page=6

    Ya’ll have to click on here and see what the NYPD is saying on their message boards. My people we need to get unified in these communities and let these people understand that any harm done to the people will be reciprocated. We don’t have time for marches and sit-in’s. The war is already being waged we are just to blind to see it. Our brothers are becoming political prisoners and nobody is taking notice. The war on drugs is actally a war on “thugs” or black men who don’t have the credentials to fit into this society. Pretty soon they are going to turn their guns away from Iraq and start pointing them right back at black people…….It’s already begun black people. In the words of Fishburn off of School DAZE “WAKKKKKE UPPPPPPP!!”

    /0
  58. 58.
    SO FRESH

    THIS PISSES ME THE HELL OFF!!! I CAN’T FATHOM HOW THEY COULD LET THOSE PIGS GO LIKE THAT….WHAT HUMAN COULD LIVE WITH THEMSELVES AFTER KNOWING WAT THEY DID WAS HORRIBLE….I AM INFURIATED ABOUT THIS!!! IT’S PAINFUL TO HEAR ABOUT!!! PAINFUL!!!

    /0
  59. 59.
    bridgette

    There is one thing we can do we can try and convince our young men to stop killing each other. This does sadden me but it does not surprise me. Do you realize that if we do not educate our youth into being lawyers and becoming judges we will continue to have judges like this on the bench.

    Obama 2008

    /0
  60. 60.
    Have Not Thought of a New User Name

    @ 217. chillain villain

    I need you to read the entire article or maybe even google the story. Those officers were plain clothed, did not annouce who they were, and aproached 3 men in a high crime neighborhood where a argument had just occured with guns drawn. Under the situation I think he was just in trying to drive off. It does not take 50 bullets to stop a car. If they would have shot out the tires they would have stopped the car.

    Those police are animals and I hope they repented for their sins because they will pay for this in later maybe in this life or the after life, but they will reap what the sew.

    /0