Nicole Paultre-Bell (pictured above with her daughter and Sean Bell’s parents) spoke to the public over the weekend about her reaction to the verdict:
“The justice system let me down,” Paultre Bell said, her voice strong, her message clear. “They killed Sean all over again. That’s what it felt like to us.” [ read more ]
Many people in NYC took to the streets and held protests and marches in Sean Bell’s memory after a Judge acquitted three police officers in his shooting death last Friday (photos after the cut).
The NY Daily news is reporting that the Bell family as well as Sean’s friend Joseph Guzman, who testified about being shot by police the night Bell was killed, are being harassed by random people. The Bell family even received a call the day of the verdict by someone who laughed and hung up. It was traced back to the Sergeants Benevolent Association, a NY police union…
what they did was wrong point blank plain and simple
and i hope karma gets them in the WORST way
All I can do is SMH ! ! ! I this is a SAD CASE of no JUSTICE ! !
omg… called their phone and laughed?
wtf?
i hate this world we’re living in… things have gotta change… they better appeal!
Everytime I read something about Sean Bell, I cry. I hope an appeal comes sooner than later and his family can finally have some justice they deserve.
smh this is all bull shyt plain and simple. So much for justice huh?
We have never been free, still arent’ free and the future…yea not looking very bright.
We live in an illusional reality.
I dont thint the cops where racist. The Judicial system is but not the cops. The cops were just trigger happpy. ANd ya’ll know how blk cops like to show out in front of whyte cops
I cant believe what this world is coming to. Our ancestors Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Abraham Lincoln, etc. Fought for this country to have equal rights for everyone and it still is far far away from it. Open your eyes everyone, it seems as though history is repeating itself
While I feel terribly sorry for Sean (too young;too soon). We have to find some peace in this entire situation.
My brother is a Seargent on NYPD. We are terrified something would happen to him everyday.
Cops put their lives on the line everyday. While they are told to act on instinct they obviously need better training. Those cops were scared and did not think before they started shooting. NYPD officers need to get better training and not use the gun when they are scared. Think before they shoot. Or shoot a warning shot. Something but not 50 shots is extreme.
wow the protest pictures are really strong . moving me to tears!
..those are some strong statements that have been made by the family “it’s like they killed sean all over again”, that’s really sad…
The verdit was totally unfair
I was watchign some CNN how that covered the verdit, adn it was amazing to see that the newsroom agrees with this verdict, they found reasons to support the verdict, which were all very stupid
sure the overseer/officers are putting their lives on the line everyday, but being a black male is just fitting the descrption of a killer, so their life is constantly on the
I just understand how something like that could go unpunished. Their was NO justification! at all.for 3 men to shoot one unarmed man over 50 times. You know its sad that in 2008 a life can be so unvalued, and the worst part is its unvalued by the people we pay to protect us! Something really needs to change. and Quickly. My prayers go out to the family.
I am so disgusted with the WORLD.
Wow I am still upset by this it truly saddens me. God will get the final justice.
The verdict was not unfair. It was very unfortunate. The judge based it on the policies that cops should be able to “do their job” — Which is to protect and serve. Sadly they only protected themselves.
Better training needs to implemented.
Race is hard to state since two of the cops are black.
How da hell are they harrassing the FAMILY? oooo i just dont know what to say anymore
It’s good to see people of all races coming togehter to protest
*together
This act here was a modern day lynching. Back in the 1800′s and early 1900′s they lynched by hanging, burning or shooting innocent blacks hundreds of times and got away with it- with no questions asked.
It’s an utter disgrace that over a 100 years later, when we think equality can finally become a reality, a verdict of NOT GUILTY reminds us that true JUSTICE AND EQUALITY IS JUST A DREAM in this world. This nightmare has sent us back to the cotton fields.
I’m further disgusted and distressed, to the point that I want to vomit, that other BLACKS shared in killing their own black brother.
We can fight the war with all our might, but only God will win this battle- no one else.
AS UNFAIR & CRAZY THIS MAY SEEM, PLEASE KEEP IN MIND WHO HAS THE FINAL SAY….GOD. HE IS THE FINAL & ONLY JUDGE WE NEED TO CARE ABOUT. I PRAY FOR THE BELL FAMILY FOR THEIR LOST & THE INJUSTICE BESTOWED UPON THEM, I PRAY FOR THE SOULS OF THE MURDERS AND THOSE WHO SUPPORT THEM. PLEASE BELIEVE JUSTICE WILL BE SERVED!
Tears came to my eye when I heard this… and reading this is just upsetting to me. we have no justice I what is suppose to be the best country there is. I pray that his family find peace in God… and know that the justice here is nothing compared to what the lord will do. Touch not the lord annioted.. Trust Justice Will Be Served.
One Love!!
Yeah the white man system failed but remember this there is a God..And the good Lord don’t sleep
Vengence is mine says the lord.. Please let God handle it.. he doesn’t need our help. He can handle it. Just keep the faith and be strong
Ms. Truth,
I feel for your family and I hope your brother is safe through all of this happening. I disagree with officers protecting and serving themselves. These officers were at no risk. They were on duty and drunk was the first problem. Second They made the wrong call into the station. Third they shot 50 times to unarmed men. Where was the protect and serve? Officers get sufficient training. It may not be the best but one thing they are trained in is the difference between shoot to kill and shoot to disarm. If they felt this guy had a gun then he should’ve been shot in the shoulder for disarm. They shot them men like they were in warfare. I don’t even care if those guys tried to “run” them over in the vehicle. You shoot out tires to stop the vehicle or you fire a shot at the driver to disarm him from the wheel. They are trained to do these things.Them shooting 50times was personal and it will come out sooner or later. It’s sad that more unarmed people in nyc are shot by officers than the amount of rapists in nyc that are caught. Explain the protect and serve there. These cops will get a more severe punishment spiritually than jail time. Trust they will not sleep comfortable, will fear for their lives and their families, and will never live happily. Sorry to say Karma will always find its way.
What did the family do to deserve the harrassing phone calls. While reading the response to what a sergeant said about it couldn’t have been somebody from the builidng b/c “not that many people were in the building at the time”. WTF Doesn’t he know that it takes one person to make one phone call, one time.
When do you realize that no one is shooting back at you?
And we are suppose to trust these people to protect us!? Bull.
“they killed sean all over again” that really sucks and makes me sad.
God bless their family.
This is just terrible. How dare some people cause even more pain for the Bell family by harassing them? That’s beyond low down. On a positive note, it’s good to see people are standing by the Bell family b protesting against that bogus verdict.
Clearly, no one writing here is educated enough to note that the verdict was FAIR and according to LAW. When are blacks going to stop pulling the race card on everything? It is such an old song.
This case really hurts because I was training in two weeks to become an officer. Now with these rouge cops, I wonder if my life will be in danger by default because of an unfair justice system. We need better cops but my own people might see me as the enemy. I’m conflicted now.
sure the vote was fair and according to the law…thank you very much misseducated. i understand that the police officers stories were more consistent than that of the actual witnesses, but taking into consideration the fact that the man who died was unarmed and was shot at 50 times, there has to be some kind of punishment that they should endure, getting totally aquitted of the crime they commited isnt fair to those who suffered such a loss and are looking for closure, of course this verdict is totally unfair, excuse you miss educated
This shit makes my stomach turn. I couldn’t believe the verdict…I feel for the family, that shit has to hurt in the worst way. Hopefully they’ll appeal.
I have a feeling it’s about to get real up in NY, people are sick of the injustice and their going to start taking matters into their own hands
@ #24 Lady Architect..I agree with your comments 100% i feel the exact same way.
@ #28 Lisa Smith. Yes some people are upset that it was a black man, but i believe more people (including myself) are upset at the fact that it was an innocent Human life taken and nothing was done about it. There was nothing fair about the verdict..and we all know it was according to “law” thats the damn problem..the “law” only protects certain people. Were not talking about a drug dealer shooting at police to get away, we are talking about an UNARMED INNOCENT man who got shot over 50 times by 3 different people. i’m hoping you were just making your comment to get people stirred up, if not you need to WAKE UP!!!!
and its notlike all the police offiecers were white, there is a black on, a spanish one and a white one…
I agree with #30. How do they justify shooting an UNARMED man 50 freakin’ times? That’s bullshit, it’s different if he went “Set it off” style on their asses and just got out the car and started shooting at the damn officers, but that wasn’t the case. I guess every officer is gonna start shooting up motherfuckers becase “Oh I thought he had a weapon.”
I thought there would be news of a riot in NY by now! That’s just awful!
I really cried for this woman and their family. I cannot comprehend the pain and grief this woman must be feeling at this moment. It is just a vicious cycle that seems to never end. They kill our children, we (black people) get angry and retaliate, which is a reasonable reaction, that make police officers scared and shoot first and ask questions later. What came first the chicken or the egg??? We all knoe there are sociopaths out there that can kill with out any remorse, but when those sociopaths also have a badge and the right to carry a weapon, shoot to kill someone and face no kind of reprocussions….what’s the alternative.
Vengence is mine sayeth the Lord, and know that he does not sleep or slumber. God be with this family during their continued berievement.
@ 28 The only person bring up race is you….
Instead of all the black thugs %#$king up each other. Turn the attention to some of these racists clowns..
My prayers go out to the Bell family.
Sidebar*** While it seems fuked up, legally, the police officers were not at fault. The law was on their side which is why they opted to proceed without a jury of their peers. Additionally, cops are taught to take out the deadly force (the car) until the deadly force is no longer present. Now 50 is extremely excessive and is the factor that rips everyone’s heart the most, but the Prosecution failed to prove that they were guilty…That’s the bottom line…But Cmon State v. State (I knew it was coming)!
The laws need to be changed! We are still working with and living under laws which were created by and for White ppl—-Why are we surprised that a situation that happened 2006/2008, which was governed by laws created for situations back then, would be relavent or produce justice for this family. Just because it’s legal doesn’t make it right.
Once again, my heart and prayers go out to this family!!!!!!
@28
I was waiting for you- I KNEW IT!!!! I knew that some insensitive, crass, asinine, malignant filled obtuser- namely YOU, would come on this post and utter such foolery.
When so-called justice is served ABSOLUTELY in “accordance to the Law” but ignores the circumstances of the situation, justice becomes “injustice” when the circumstances are not considered and facts show that the young man was not armed- but murdered at the hands of licensed killers called crooked cops.
Am I showing myself as being the proposed ignoramus you claimed are on this post, or did I just reveal how maniacal and hebetudinous you are. In essence get a life, grow up and GET OUTTA HERE!!
In the meantime, the rest of us are going to continue to support and pray for this family.
I honestly don’t think that race was not a major factor in the crime. I do however feel as though the actions of the officers were unwarrented. It is very disturbing to see that a person’s life has absolutly no value. I can see where the cops felt threatened but I don’t feel their actions were not necessary. As far as the judgment goes I’m ot surprised. Dissapointed but not surprised.
People…understand that training day was not merely made for entertainment. There are many cops that play this role.
@Lisa Smith- You’re the only one mentioning race. Maybe because you are IGNORANT! So when you come in this site babbling your ignorance as such; remember you’re the only un-educated one spewing HATRED!
The verdict was unjust…That is fact. If we look at this situation and put our family faces in place of Bell, we would never accept this verdict as being fair! So, Lisa Smith, put a close family member in place of Bell. Would you then believe the verdict was fair??? If you say yes; you will only be a liar to yourself, because no one would ever believe you…
Well said #20 & 25.
those posters say racist cops, but out of the 3 officers, 2 were black and 1 was white
I love my fellow NYers!!!!
My prayers still go out to the family
And the nerve of that prank caller…God don’t like ugly
I think the racist cop comment wasn’t just towards white cops…blacks can be racist as well!!!
#15- How come race is not an issue here? IT IS an issue. It’s ALWAYS the issue. Just because one of the Police Officers was Black and the other Hispanic doesn’t mean a damn thing. It’s what they saw in front of them-A young Black man. And of course, if he was black, well then, he HAD to have a gun or be a thug right?! Black people, expecially black cops treat black people, expecially our young black brothers just as bad and sometimes worse than the white ones. You can best believe that if it was a WHITE boy comming out of that bar that nite, they would’ve given HIM the benefit of the doubt and he would still be walking around today, that’s for sure!
im asian and i definately think this is racism and its sooo disgusting the way some people’s lives are valued and others aren’t. forget freedom – sean bell wasn’t even allowed to live and now his daughter has lost one of the two most important people in her life and the mother has lost her husband-to-be (right?). that cant change but the fact that the police officers who, by the way, as humans have as many rights as sean bell, got away with it just goes to show the kind of sick world we live in………we were scared of criminals but it looks like the police are the ones we gotta avoid.
@28 – Why must someone say we are pulling the “race card” every time we decide to fight back against racism and injustice…. 50 shots into an unarmed man is injustice. Cops who did not identify themselves and chose to shoot first is injustice. If a group of people are coming to you with guns out of a club in NY city wouldn’t you drive off… They didn’t identify themselves. I think if it was a group of white guys partying at a strip club they would not have been shot 50 times… Show me when this has ever happened… NYPD has done it before (Amadu Diablo was shot 41 times for wielding keys)… I will stop screaming RACE when RACISM no longer exist… Open up you eyes and stop thinking we live in some perfectly innocent world….
The police union was calling her house and laughing… Oh but thats not about race either is it… Again, when have you heard of a white family being harrassed by the police union…
LAW shot a guy – 50 times….actually.
Two of the Cops that did the shooting were Black, you guys do realize that right.
OH AND #28 THATS THE PROBLEM AS WELL….DONT DOWN PLAY RACE AT ALL …PEOPLE ALWAYS TEND TO DO THAT AND THATS EXACTLY WHY PROBLEMS LIKE THIS STILL EXIST….
I PROMISE IF THESE SAME COPS DID THIS TO A GROUP OF YOUNG WHITE MEN THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN PROSECUTED….
LOOK IN THE DICTIONARY AND SEE HOW “BLACK” IS DEFINED….GO THROUGH TRAINING AS A OFFICER AND SEE HOW SUSPECTS ARE DEFINED…(I.E. BLACK YOUTH SHOT ON THE NJ PARKWAY BACK IN THE LATE 90′S) OR BETTER YET(IF YOU ARENT WHITE) GET SOME COCO BROWN MAC FOUNDATION..APPLY IT OVER YOUR BODY AND WALK AROUND AS AN AFRICAN AMERICAN DO SOME OF THE THINGS YOU DO NOW AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS….
Race card……i only heard of clubs, spades, hearts, and diamonds…..what we are pulling here is real talk…….it has nothing to do with education…it has something to do with being tired of fighting for the right to be treated fairly just as any other persons…..something we are a born with but snatched from us as soon as someone decides to misjudge you because of your pigment….Fair……fair…..wow….what ever it is your smoking…just stay out of the area i patrol….bc we got to keep that good ish you on off the street and i am more than willing to lock u up for no apparent reason just so u can know and remember the feeling of being profiled….(luckily thats not in my character)
Steve Harvey said it best, “the judge discredited testimony bc of the records of witnesses, those officers didnt know anything about their history b4 they folllowed them again 2 1/2 blocks plan clothed and drew there weapons….We can lock mike vick up for “killing” dogs and Wesley Snipes for tax evasion but killing an unarmed man renders a not guilty verdict wow….” yea u are on some good ish…crack is wack remember that
It truly saddens me that this has happened to the family and friends of such a young man. As a citizen and a person of color, I am truly shocked at how invaluable our lives seem to be to those who feel that they have always been above us. Race may not seem like it was a major factor in the incident, but all in all it was; it has always been the case. Add racial profiling, trigger happy cops, and a truly unfair and unequal system and you will end up with the same situation. It is really up to us as a people to not only stick together when things like this happen but at all times. People are never going to just give you respect…you have to demand it and if we keep laying dormant and not actually speaking out and taking part in our own communities until things happen, then we will never get the respect that we are due.
Its wonderful that we came together for Jena 6 and to support and protest on behalf of the Bell family but after this dies down will we continue speaking out? Why not continue to take a stand? Injustices happen everyday all over the place…lets stop being seen and heard for all of the wrong reasons. We have always been an intelligent group of people. Strong. God fearing. Family oriented people. We have always respected ourselves. Somewhere along the way we stopped having those positive straights. IF WE DON’T SHOW THAT WE MEAN BUSINESS NO ONE IS GOING TO EVER TAKE US SERIOUSLY.
@ 28. Lisa Smith
Who mentioned race besides you? It’s ok I understand it feels good to say things behind a computer screen that you would never say in public.
It’s about to become really ugly.
…That Poor Family! Where is the justice?
This saddens me to the core of my soul . Im originally from brooklyn but my family moved to queens in 05′. I live not too far from where sean bell was gunned down. It hurts me too see the picture of his daughter touching a picture of her daddy who she will never see again
. it Hurts and too hear the verdict last week made me swallow extra hard. But I am not surprised, I knew this was going to happen because this is the world we live in which saddens me . Nonetheless, I pray this case gets reviewed in depth because these cops need too face some type of punishment. Im so tired of our brothers getting killed because trigger happy cops want too meet their quota smh. When will this stop when all of our brothers are deceased and the system keeps protecting these crazed cops. I know not all cops are like that but I live in New York and this is an epidemic I have seen all too often when will this end ? My prayers go out to the Bell Family Please stay strong knowing the lord willl see you through these trying times.
@28 When one of your loved one get shot up 50 times, let me know because you can’t obviously think shotting someone 50 times that hasn’t shot anything will have a FAIR verdict.They thought this man had a gun, and during those 50 times being shot did he shoot back?You know why he didn’t shoot back?Because he never a had a gun on him.