NYPD officers acquitted of all charges in shooting of Sean Bell - Page 2 - U.S. Politics Online: A Political Discussion Forum

EricOKC · #16 (**permalink**) 04-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank

You are correct that 2 out of the 3 police detectives were black so I am interested in how Sharpton is going to turn this into a racial issue.

(in my best Al $harpton voice)

"It doesnt matter that 2 of the 3 cops were Black! They were merely tools of the white man! Whitey thinks because he let two of the house niggas go free, that we wont notice they murdered a Black man! NO JUSTICE NO PEACE NO JUSTICE NO PEACE! Now go forth my black brothers and show whitey we wont stand for this any longer!" (cue rent-a-mob to start the rioting)

Fidei Defensor · #17 (**permalink**) 04-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricOKC

(cue rent-a-mob to start the rioting)

Fortunately, there hasn't been any of that, but Sharpton and his ilk use incidents like this to foment resentment where, in many cases, it is undeserved.

EricOKC · #18 (**permalink**) 04-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fidei Defensor

Fortunately, there hasn't been any of that, but Sharpton and his ilk use incidents like this to foment resentment where, in many cases, it is undeserved.

Give it time. Its only been a few hours.

picaro · #19 (**permalink**) 04-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by timj219

Wow. I guess we'll never know the specifics of what made the judge decide this way.

he decided that way because they were innocent of the charges. The fact that Sharpton the ambulance chaser was running around paying witnesses didn't help, either, along with the fact the witnesses were obviously liars.

Quote:

He won't give interviews the way jury members sometimes do. But on its face it's a difficult thing to understand. Fifty shots - no weapons on the "perps" - no evidence they were committing any crimes - and not even a reckless endangerment conviction. The only thing more surprising than the verdict is that Al "maggot" Sharpton didn't throw a full fledged news conference on the courthouse steps.

Parts of the story the irresponsible and inflammatory MSM made it a point not to ever bring up, in the hopes of a provoking some riots to liven up their boring lives:

Quote:

But the context of the Bell shooting suggests a different picture. The undercover officers and detectives involved had been deployed to Club Kahlua in Jamaica, Queens, because of the club’s history of lawlessness. Club patrons and neighbors had made dozens of calls to the NYPD, reporting guns, drug sales, and prostitution, and the police had recently made eight arrests there.

The night of November 24, undercover officer Gescard Isnora, who fired the first shots at Bell, had observed a man put a stripper’s hand on his belt to reassure her that he had a gun and would protect her from an aggressive customer. Outside the club, Isnora (who is African-American) and his colleagues witnessed a heated exchange between Bell’s entourage and an apparent pimp over the services of a prostitute, during which the pimp kept his hand inside his jacket, as if holding a gun. After the hooker refused to have sex with more than two of the group’s eight members, Bell—presumably referring to the pimp—said, “Let’s fuck him up,” and Bell’s companion, Joseph Guzman, said, “Yo, get my gun, get my gun.” Isnora reported these exchanges over his cell phone to his colleagues in the area.

Feeling the danger level mounting, Isnora retrieved his gun from his unmarked car. When he returned to the scene, Bell and his two companions had gotten into their car, ready to drive away. Isnora thought that a drive-by shooting of the pimp could be imminent, and so moved to question the car’s occupants. He held out his badge (by his account), identified himself as a police officer, and told the car to stop. Instead, Bell drove forward and hit Isnora and a police minivan, backed up, and then slammed into the minivan again, nearly hitting Isnora a second time.

Isnora, who was standing on the passenger side of Bell’s car, claims that he saw Guzman reach for his waistband. Believing that he faced a deadly threat, Isnora opened fire. The four other undercovers and detectives at the scene also started shooting, killing Bell and wounding Guzman and Bell’s other companion in the car, Trent Benefield. No gun turned up in Bell’s car. (Benefield alleges that Isnora began shooting before the car started moving, which is absurd. The barrage of 50 bullets was so fast that no witness at the scene remembers hearing more than eight rounds fired off. Bell was undoubtedly killed as soon as the shooting started, and so wouldn’t have been able to move the car forward and back and forward again, as he did. None of the officers had ever used their guns before, moreover, despite making hundreds of arrests, including for gun possession. These were not trigger-happy cops.)

Time for the Truth About Black Crime Rates by Heather Mac Donald

The judge refused to give into the Lynch mob and Sharpton's extremely unethical behavior. I would have thought there were laws against paying off witnesses; apparently there isn't.

Quote:

Sharpton also addressed the controversial payments his group has made to witnesses and victims in the Sean Bell shooting, comparing them to the assistance police unions give cops.

"How can [the Detectives Endowment Association] support the detectives and I can't support the victims?" Sharpton asked.

DEA President Michael Palladino asked, "What witnesses before the grand jury are being paid by National Action Network?" and wondered whether it influences their testimony

"The DEA certainly has supported our detectives during their time on suspension. That's what the union is supposed to do," he said.

The Detectives Endowment Association has vocally defended the three police officers indicted in connection to the fatal shooting of Sean Bell and his two friends in the parking lot of a Queens strip club last November 25.

It has questioned the propriety of Sharpton's group of paying witnesses to the shooting.

REV. AL IN TAX DEAL - New York Post

timj219 · #20 (**permalink**) 04-25-2008

Yes you know as little about why the judge ruled the way he did as I do. But thanks for playing.

solletica · #21 (**permalink**) 04-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattLarson

IIRC, the guy actually hit one of the officers with his car. The court ruled that the officers fired in justified fear for their lives and / or the lives of the other officers.

Matt

Much of the account of what actually happened is based on statements from NYPD undercover cops, and, as everyone knows,

the NYPD is not a credible institution.

solletica · #22 (**permalink**) 04-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattLarson

Story now up on CNN: Cops not guilty in groom shooting - CNN.com

As predicted, the federal prosecutors are examining whether to intervene:

Matt

Yeah, right, wait for the federal prosecutors

They might do their job. Then again, they might not. The feds have no incentive to try.

There are only two practical courses of action in any police abuse cases where the victims want retribution. Either would work. . .

Obtain a smart, aggressive attorney and file suit against the city.
...

picaro · #23 (**permalink**) 04-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by timj219

Yes you know as little about why the judge ruled the way he did as I do. But thanks for playing.

Yes, I do know. They were innocent of the charges. He doesn't need to make comments to the press, he was the judge in the case, handed down the verdict and wrote the frigging decision. They're called Court records and trial transcripts.

Are you implying he's hiding something? Some sort of conspiracy theory? Why do you think 'nobody knows why' he found them not guilty?

And you are welcome! Any time! ...

picaro · #24 (**permalink**) 04-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by solletica

Much of the account of what actually happened is based on statements from NYPD undercover cops, and, as everyone knows,

the NYPD is not a credible institution.

A biased, completely subjective opinion. I suppose you think the vague, conflicted, and paid for 'testimonies' of street thugs, career criminals, pimps, and hookers are God's Honest Truth?

solletica · #25 (**permalink**) 04-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fidei Defensor

Now, I suppose this is political because it involves a police shooting, but mostly because Al Sharpton has made it so:

I don't know what to think of this incident as I haven't had an opportunity to review the facts in depth (though it strikes me as odd that one of the officers would fire in excess of 30 rounds when no fire is being returned). But it's disappointing to see the almost inevitable use of it to inflame racial tension by the likes of Al Sharpton, particularly because two of the three accused officers are black.

In any event, I hardly think Rev. Sharpton is in any position to credibly tell us whether justice was "aborted" in this instance.

It's impossible to tell whether the officers were actually innocent. It's well known that all police officers lie to protect themselves (i. e. Blue wall of silence), and furthermore, it's also well known that local prosecutors, in addition to being weak and inept (compared to the best attorneys in private practice) have a strong disincentive to do a good job when police are involved.

solletica · #26 (**permalink**) 04-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by picaro

A biased, completely subjective opinion. I suppose you think the vague, conflicted, and paid for 'testimonies' of street thugs, career criminals, pimps, and hookers are God's Honest Truth?

No, the street thugs in the NYPD are in no way God's Honest Truth. Isn't that what I just said?

CorpMediaSux · #27 (**permalink**) 04-27-2008

This isnt about race. Thsi is about the insanity of our legal and judicial system. A man was murdered and because the killers had badges they get off. Its wrong. Period. Anyone out there who believes in civil liberties should be outraged. This of course eliminates Bush fans.

Steve · #28 (**permalink**) 04-27-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrewl

I read that the officers only thought they may get hit by the car, not that any of them got hit.

Should they have waited until one of them was tangled up in the rear axle before they shot?

Imperator · #29 (**permalink**) 04-27-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by CorpMediaSux

. Anyone out there who believes in civil liberties should be outraged. This of course eliminates Bush fans.

so bushco. has something to do with this? This is a topic on bell,not the patriot act... How about the NYC police dept. and how its been run for the last 15 years? I see

soot · #30 (**permalink**) 04-27-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by CorpMediaSux

This isnt about race. Thsi is about the insanity of our legal and judicial system. A man was murdered and because the killers had badges they get off. Its wrong. Period. Anyone out there who believes in civil liberties should be outraged. This of course eliminates Bush fans.

This reminds me of an interesting quote I read the other day:

Quote:

There is no "nice" way to arrest a potentially dangerous, combative suspect. The police are our bodyguards, or hired fists, batons and guns. We pay them to do the dirty work of protecting us, the work we're too afraid, too unskilled or too civilized to do ourselves. We expect them to keep the bad guys out of our businesses, cars and houses, out of our face. We want them to "take care of the problem." We just don't want to see how it's done.

Charles H. Webb, Ph.D.

Sean Bell was killed, not murdered. And he was killed because he was a scumbag who associated with scumbags and because he was hanging around a scummy part of town and doing scummy things with scummy people.

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