Bell's Fiancee: Justice System Let Me Down

Protestors March Through Harlem As Rev. Sharpton Calls For Federal Civil Rights Investigation

(CBS/AP)  The fiancee of an unarmed man shot to death by police on his wedding day said Saturday that "the justice system let me down" after the three detectives were acquitted of all charges in his killing.

"April 25, 2008: They killed Sean all over again," Nicole Paultre Bell softly told hundreds of people gathered at Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network headquarters. "That's what if felt like to us."

Paultre Bell, in her first public remarks since storming out of a Queens courtroom on Friday after the NYPD detectives were cleared in 23-year-old Sean Bell's killing, said she would seek another decision in the case.

"I'm still praying for justice," she said, "because it's not over."

Bell's family, shooting victim Joseph Guzman and Sharpton lashed out at the legal system at a rally at Sharpton's offices before they joined more than 300 people marching through more than 20 blocks in Harlem. Fifty protesters carried white placards with a number on each sign, referring to the number of shots fired on Bell and his two friends outside a Queens strip club on his wedding day in 2006.

"We've got a long fight," said Guzman. "We're still in it. ... We're going to struggle. We're going to get through."

Sharpton lambasted the judge who acquitted the detectives, saying a jury should been seated to decide guilt or innocence.

"If people are on the public payroll, doing their public duty, they should be required to face a public jury," Sharpton said. He later promised to "shut the city down" with organized civil disobedience. "Shut it down! Shut it down!" supporters chanted.

In his ruling Friday, Justice Arthur Cooperman said that the inconsistent testimony, courtroom demeanor and rap sheets of the prosecution witnesses - mainly Bell's friends - "had the effect of eviscerating" their credibility.

"At times, the testimony just didn't make sense," the judge said.

The verdict elicited gasps as well as tears of joy and sorrow. Detective Michael Oliver, who fired 31 of the shots, wept at the defense table, while Bell's mother cried in the packed courtroom. Shouts of "Murderers! Murderers!" and "KKK!" rang out outside the courthouse.

Protests followed later in the day, and police said two demonstrators were arrested near the site of the shooting Friday night. One was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge, the other on a charge of obstructing governmental administration, police said.

Oliver and Gescard Isnora were acquitted of charges that included manslaughter, assault and reckless endangerment. The third officer, Marc Cooper, faced lesser charges.

The officers later appeared at a news conference with the leader of their union, offering brief statements and taking no questions. "I'd like to say sorry to the Bell family for the tragedy," an emotional Cooper said.

Trent Benefield, a friend of Bell's who was wounded in the shooting, tearfully denounced the judge's decision as unfair.

"They should have gotten what they deserve," he told the Daily News.

Bell was killed outside the Queens strip club as he was leaving his bachelor party. The officers - undercover detectives who were investigating reports of prostitution at the club - said they thought one of the men had a gun.

The slaying heightened tensions in the city and stoked long-standing allegations of racism and excessive use of force on the part of New York City's police, even though two of the officers charged are black.

Police had assigned extra officers to the courthouse and had helicopters in the air to help deal with any unrest Friday. But within an hour, the angry, weeping crowd of about 200 people outside the courthouse had scattered, and no arrests were made.

The officers had complained that pretrial publicity had unfairly painted them as cold-blooded killers. They opted to have the judge instead of a jury decide the case, a strategy that appeared to pay off.

After the verdict, the U.S. attorney's office said it would look into the case and "take appropriate action if the evidence indicates a prosecutable violation of federal criminal civil rights statutes."

In addition, relatives of the victims have sued the city, and those cases carry the potential for multimillion-dollar payouts.

Also, the officers, who had been on paid leave, still face possible departmental charges that could result in their firing.

[colonieny]

This is interesting : To anyone with time to spare. Please try to find- anywhere on the internet- the names and situation of the 53 White and Asians who were murdered during the 1992 LA Riots. The LA Times did run a story on it (I remember reading it when it happened.) But... the whole riot has been ERASED from the SEARCH engines, as though it did not happen !!
53 people were dragged from their cars on their way home, beaten, shot, rapped, stabbed, just because, there was no law and order, and because they were White or Asian. This included women, old people, shop owners, students, strangers who got out of their cars to help. Where is their MEMORIAL ? Where is the apologies ? Where is the even our collective MEMORY??

[colonieny]

Isn''t time for us to heal an move on ?

[rob416]

Once again Rev. Al Sharpton injects himself into something that will give him publicity and a high profile. He is the self proclaimed champion of the black community. Now he threatens to shut down an etire City. When is the black community going to see him for who he really is? He calls others racist bigots, when in fact he is one himself.

The Bell family has every right to feel the way they do and within their rights to pursue whatever legal avenues they want. I just hope they will see Rev Sharpton''s self serving motives in helping them As for what really happened the day of the shooting, I wasn''t there and certianly did not attend the trial.

[dukuss]

As soon as Tawanna Sharpton gets his cut from the compensation check he''ll be out of there. So Mayor Bloomberg as soon as you give the troll and her illegimate children the money, the sooner you''ll have stability.

When the troll gets her money, she will be so thankful that she got rid of her "husband-to-be". No matter the manner in how she got rid of him.

It''s all about the cash.

[nonayabiness]

Yeah, who gives Al Sharpton the right to ''shut down a city''? All this will do is hurt other innocent people who had nothing to do with this tragic fiasco. Get a license and stage a legal protest, fine. But to shut down a city is also wrong, and two wrongs have never made a right, as far as I can remember.

[nonayabiness]

50 shots without one return fire is ridiculous. Of course, I wasn''t there, and only have the benefit of knowing what the news channels have reported, that I have seen, but based on what I think I know, this was just wrong, very wrong.

[colonieny]

What about the poor girls (2young teens) in Long Beach Ca who were savagely beaten by a mob at Halloween 2006, because they did not move out of the way on the sidewalk ? More than 20 took part in the savage beatings.
This was a racial thing. One white girl had her face broken up really bad, and is in constant pain. Not one of the convicted teens and young adults (one smashed their faces with a skate board over and over again) went to jail, not one ! although each was "guilty" under the law. Where is the justice ???
The judge did not want a riot, since Jesse JAckson and Al Sharpton had appeared to be sure that the "children" had a fair ... Where is the justice ?
Get over it. Move on.

[ranger1948]

beehive21
It will end up the same, she will receive a big settlement,some unemployed pimp will pick up on her spend her money and put her to working the streets.

[ranger1948]

moonshadow22
And where did you receive your law dgree at ?

[mistermoby]

OMG...Listen up Al Sharpton..why did this happen in the first place..***...it was and always happens when a cop say stop..a black person..goes deaf..Why aren''t you in Chicago trying to stop the brothers killing each other..no don''t care about that...Did you listen to Bill Cosby??...he knows it is time for the Black people to stand up and be men...not like you...stir up trouble...so brothers out there..listen to who you think is right..

[nanging3]

Sharpton lambasted the judge who acquitted the detectives, saying a jury should been seated to decide guilt or innocence.

"If people are on the public payroll, doing their public duty, they should be required to face a public jury," Sharpton said. He later promised to "shut the city down" with organized civil disobedience. "Shut it down! Shut it down!" supporters chanted.

In his ruling Friday, Justice Arthur Cooperman said that the inconsistent testimony, courtroom demeanor and rap sheets of the prosecution witnesses - mainly Bell''s friends - "had the effect of eviscerating" their credibility.

"At times, the testimony just didn''t make sense," the judge said.


Arrest Sharpton, arrest Sharpton, who the hell does he think he is. He is nothing but a racist bigot.

[nanging3]

Hundreds march in Harlem after officers'' acquittal; Sharpton threatens to ''close this city''

It was black cops shotting a black who was drunk and tried to run them down with a car.


We are so sick of Al Sharpton he is just a racist bully.
Al Sharpton needs to keep is racist nose out of it.
Why don''t they arrest him for making a terrorist threat, and inciting a riot.

[nanging3]

Hundreds march in Harlem after officers'' acquittal; Sharpton threatens to ''close this city''


Racist Bully Al Sharpton should be arrested for making a terrorist threat amd inciting a riot.

I am so tired of Al Sharpton.

[watcher269-2009]

Forces hostile to the United States grow strong in the late
20th Century.

A great moral crisis grips the nation as social
revolution and a breakdown of the criminal justice system threaten society.

To protect and defend its citizens, the United
States Police Force is formed.

he population of Los Angeles grows to 40 million.
The city is ravaged by crime and immorality. A Presidential candidate
predicts a millennium earthquake will destroy the city in divine
retribution.

An earthquake measuring 9.6 on the Richter scale
hits at 12:59 p.m., August 23rd, in the year 2000.

After the devastation, the constitution is damned,
and the newly elected President accepts a lifetime term of office.

Fearing a massive terrorist invasion from South
America, the United States prepares for war. The Great Wall is built along
the southern border, cutting off the flow of illegal aliens.


Street gangs, South American terrorists and the
criminally insane capture Los Angeles, the once-great City of Angels.

Now an island on the border of civilization, L.A.
is a no-man''s land of chaos, anarchy and darkness.

The United States Police Force, like an army, is
encamped in the San Gabriel Mountains.

The President''s first act as Permanent
Commander-in-Chief is Directive 17: protect and defend the United States
from this island of the damned, Hell on Earth.

[haoli25]

"Oh Lawd, what we gonna do now?" PLEASE!, The cops deserve a medal for making the gene pool a little cleaner.

[linfinster]

... for some paranoid unknown reason, feared for their lives.

... You can''''t tell those things simply by looking at someone and judging them on the spot.

Posted by gce65 at 07:30 PM


LOLOL you DID read what happened right?? The Police heard one man say he had a gun, the vehicle they were in HIT cars and was trying to evade the Police ... hmmmm I wouldn''t call the police paranoid, nor would I say that they were quick to judge when firing either.

[ranger1948]

gce65
I would like to see what you would do if someone was trying to run you down with their vehicle. You haven''t been there so you do not know how it happened. The man was in a bad part of town at a seedy strip club that was under police investigation. One of the three had made a statement about going to get his gun. The officer had a responsibility to check out these three. If they hadn''t tried to flee he would be alive. The driver caused this whole incident. Why was he trying to run if he wasn''t guilty of something ?

[enigmawrap]

1) MyOpinion1: That''s what they said when you were born.

2)michaelt302 : Better 100 Guilty men go free then one innocent man go to jail....at least he didn''t go to jail...he died a free man....

[gce65]

I think back to a friend of mine whose wedding I attended in 1997. We all went out to dinner and then to a strip club for his bachelor party. The bride and her friends went out for the girls'' version the same night. We left early in the morning too.
I can''t imagine having to call her and tell her he was shot to death by police who, for some paranoid unknown reason, feared for their lives. He isn''t white either. But there''s no way to tell just by looking at him that he was a Naval Academy graduate, went to Harvard Business School and worked in the DC area. You can''t tell those things simply by looking at someone and judging them on the spot.

[gce65]

"The judge found they were in fear for their lives?" That''s become the excuse for everything: fear. That doctrine says if you are simply afraid you can kill and ask questions later. Welcome to the Bush Doctrine.

What if we applied those same standard to our fear of officials in government?