The Sean Bell Murder Case: A Pattern Of Injustice Four Cops Acquitted After Killing An Unarmed Black Man

An Essay By Michael D. Roberts

From all accounts the four police officers in the Sean Bell Murder case wept for joy after a judge acquitted them in the 50-shot killing of the unarmed Black man just hours before his wedding. The Police Benevolent Association (PBA) gloated over the result after it had systematically painted Bell and his friends as neighborhood thugs who deserved what they got. After 17 months a lone white judge handed down a decision that many in the Black community had expected.

Indeed, the Black community has come to believe that justice is an unattainable thing when it comes to members of the NYPD killing Black people. And, the funny thing is that over the years members of the NYPD who shoot and kill Blacks have been acquitted by judges and juries that have believed their bogus defenses.

In the case of Sean Bell they again "though they had a gun." What is this thing with cops who believe that every Black man is a gun-toting manic just waiting to pop the next Joe who simply looks at him. Why do these cops believe that shooting first and asking questions after is the way to go when dealing with Black people. That is why Black people have almost no faith in the NYPD. Black people – a minority in New York State – are killed more by white cops than any other racial group. Results like those of the Sean Bell case simply reinforce the perception that when it comes to the Black community it is open season for trigger-happy cops.

"We are going to react in a methodical and serious way," Sharpton said, adding that he is organizing "economic withdrawal" and "civil disobedience" that could involve going to jail, marching on Wall Street, and at police headquarters. "We are going to close the city down in a nonviolent, effective way. We're going to hit the pocketbooks."

That may be so and I agree with the Rev, but all that may help place the NYPD on the defensive but we still need to deal with what amounts to a culture of reckless killings by elements within the NYPD who want to add notches to their belts and Black people appear to be the best targets simply because cops know they can get away with it. But their worries are far from over. The Justice Department is still considering whether to bring a federal case against the officers, and a civil lawsuit looms. And civil rights leaders have no intention of letting interest in the case fizzle.

There is valid evidence that elements within the NYPD believe that they are above the law. According to Police statistics, 89% of those who died in New York Police Department custody between 1990 and 1994 were African American or Hispanic. [Amnesty International Report June 27, 1996]. The same report had this to say about the NYPD.

"Disturbingly, many of the police shootings did not appear to justify firing guns and many of the people allegedly kicked or beaten by Police were not criminal suspects but people who had simply questioned Police authority or had minor disagreements with officers from racial minorities -- particularly African-Americans, Latinos and Asians.

In nearly all the cases of victims who died in custody and Police shootings reviewed by Amnesty International the most common forms of ill-treatment alleged were repeated kicks or punches by officers using fists, batons, guns and Police radios, sometimes while the person was already handcuffed or restrained in another way. In several cases, people died after being restrained by Police officers.

The report points out that a Police officer convicted in April 1995 for shooting to death an unarmed black man sitting in his car was the first New York City police officer to be convicted for an on-duty homicide since 1977.

Here are the facts that prove conclusively that the NYPD has a pattern of abuse.

Eleanor Bumpurs (August 22, 1918 - October 29, 1984) was an African-American woman who was shot dead by Police officers called to assist her city-ordered eviction from her apartment in the Bronx on October 29, 1984. The City Housing Authority was evicting her because she was four months behind in her rent of $96.85 per month. In requesting NYPD assistance, housing workers told police that Bumpurs was emotionally disturbed, had threatened to throw boiling lye, and was using a knife to resist eviction. When Bumpurs refused to open the door, police broke in. In the struggle to subdue her, one officer shot Bumpurs twice with a 12-gauge shotgun.

Two supervisors in the city's Social Services administration were later demoted for failing to seek an emergency rent grant for Bumpurs and for not getting her proper psychiatric aid.

* Amadou Bailo Diallo (September 2, 1975 – February 4, 1999) was a 23-year-old immigrant to the United States from Guinea, who was shot and killed on February 4, 1999, by four New York City Police Department plain-clothed officers: Sean Carroll, Richard Murphy, Edward McMellon and Kenneth Boss. The four men fired a total of 41 rounds.

Diallo was unarmed at the time of the shooting, and a firestorm of controversy erupted subsequent to the event as the circumstances of the shooting prompted outrage both within and outside New York City. Issues such as Police brutality, racial profiling, and contagious shooting were central to the ensuing controversy.
The shooting took place at 1157 Wheeler Avenue in the Soundview section of The Bronx. The four officers involved were part of the now-defunct Street Crimes Unit. All of the officers were exonerated by jury trial of any wrongdoing.

* Patrick Moses Dorismond (1974-2000) was a security guard and father of two children who was killed by an undercover New York Police Department officer during the early morning of March 16, 2000. The undercover police officer approached Dorismond and his friend as they were standing outside the "Distinguished Wakamba Cocktail Lounge" and asked him where he and his partners could purchase marijuana. One of the officers, Anthony Vasquez, shot Patrick Dorismond in the chest during a scuffle.The officers claim the scuffle began when Dorismond became angry after they propositioned him, loudly declaring he was not a drug dealer. They state he threw a punch at a second officer and with his friend, Kevin Kaiser, began attacking him. Officer Vasquez said he came to his partner's aid, hearing one of the men yelling "Get his gun!", drew his weapon and identified himself as a Police officer. He claimed Dorismond grabbed the gun causing it to discharge into his chest.

Dorismond's friend, Kevin Kaiser, claims that neither of the officers identified themselves. He says he attempted unsuccessfully to pull Dorismond back from the confrontation. He described the first undercover cop who had approached Dorismond as aggressive and "in their face." Kaiser said it was one of the cops who initiated the fight, hitting Dorismond first.

An ambulance arrived on the scene within minutes of the shooting and Dorismond was transported to St. Clare's Hospital where attempts to resuscitate him proved futile. The single bullet from Vasquez's 9mm pistol had ripped through his aorta and his right lung, and he rapidly bled to death.

* On December 22, 1994, 29-year old Anthony Baez was choked to death by Police officer Francis X. Livoti in the University Heights section of the Bronx. In 1998, Livoti was convicted of violating Baez' civil rights, and two other officers were convicted of lying on the witness stand at Livoti's trial.

* On August 9, 1997, Police Officer Justin Volpe in Brooklyn sodomized Abner Louima with a broken broom handle in the 70th Precinct bathroom. Officer Volpe eventually pled guilty and received a sentence of 30 years in federal prison. Other officers were also implicated and convicted on charges stemming from the initial cover-up.

* On May 22, 2003, 43-year old Ousmane Zongo, an immigrant from Burkina Faso, was shot four times by Police Officer Bryan Conroy in a Chelsea warehouse. In 2005, Conroy was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced to 5 years probation. In 2006, the city awarded the Zongo family $3 million to settle a wrongful death suit.

* On January 24, 2004, Housing Bureau officer Richard Neri, Jr. accidentally shot to death Timothy Stansbury, a 19-year-old black man who was trespassing on the roof landing of a Bedford-Stuyvesant housing project. Stansbury was unarmed but had apparently startled Neri upon opening the roof door coming upon the officer. At that point, Neri discharged his service firearm and mortally wounded Stansbury. Although Commissioner Kelly stated that the shooting appeared "unjustified", a Brooklyn jury found that no criminal act occurred and that the event was a tragic accident.

Neri was thus cleared of all charges. The city later agreed to pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the Stansbury family. A grand jury declined to indict Neri but Kelly later suspended him for 30 days without pay and permanently stripped him of his weapon.

* On November 12, 2007, five NYPD Police officers shot and killed 18-year-old Khiel Coppin. The officers responded to a 911 call where Coppin could be heard saying he had a gun. When the officers arrived at the scene, Khiel approached officers with a black object, which was later identified as a hairbrush, in his hand and repeatedly ignored orders to stop. This prompted officers to open fire at Coppin.

Of the 20 shots fired, 8 hit Khiel, who died at the scene. This shooting has been ruled to be with both NYPD rules for the use of deadly force and the New York State Penal Law provisions, so no charges, criminal or administrative, will be filed against these officers.

 

NY CARIB NEWS HEADLINES

 

1. The Sean Bell Murder Case: A Pattern Of Injustice Four Cops Acquitted After Killing An Unarmed Black Man

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