February 11, 2009 3:00 PM
- Text
Sharpton Will Lead Sean Bell Protests
(AP)
An upcoming day of civil disobedience to protest the Sean Bell verdict will hopefully end with participants arrested while on their knees praying, the Rev. Al Sharpton said Saturday.
For the massive pray-in, Sharpton is asking protesters to gather Wednesday at 3 p.m. in at least six places around the city: 125th Street and Third Avenue; 60th Street and Third Avenue; 34th Street and Park Avenue; Varick and Houston streets; One Police Plaza; and House of the Lord Church on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.
"Where we go from there is anybody's guess," Rachel Noerdlinger, Sharpton's spokeswoman, said later, adding that wherever protesters end up, "they'll be arrested praying."
Sharpton said the protesters would fan out from their meeting points, but he would not disclose their destinations.
He has promised to "close this city down" to protest the April 25 acquittals of three police detectives in the 50-shot barrage that killed the unarmed Bell on his wedding day in 2006. Two friends were wounded.
Sharpton was joined Saturday at his Harlem headquarters by Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell, and Trent Benefield, one of the wounded men.
Paultre Bell will participate in Wednesday's protest and any other action "'til justice is done," she told several hundred people gathered at Sharpton's National Action Network headquarters in Harlem.
He said that the planned pray-in is only the start of whatever actions are necessary to oppose the verdict.
"It's going to be a long struggle, but the race isn't given to the swift or the strong, but to those who endure," Sharpton said.
For the massive pray-in, Sharpton is asking protesters to gather Wednesday at 3 p.m. in at least six places around the city: 125th Street and Third Avenue; 60th Street and Third Avenue; 34th Street and Park Avenue; Varick and Houston streets; One Police Plaza; and House of the Lord Church on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.
"Where we go from there is anybody's guess," Rachel Noerdlinger, Sharpton's spokeswoman, said later, adding that wherever protesters end up, "they'll be arrested praying."
Sharpton said the protesters would fan out from their meeting points, but he would not disclose their destinations.
He has promised to "close this city down" to protest the April 25 acquittals of three police detectives in the 50-shot barrage that killed the unarmed Bell on his wedding day in 2006. Two friends were wounded.
Sharpton was joined Saturday at his Harlem headquarters by Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell, and Trent Benefield, one of the wounded men.
Paultre Bell will participate in Wednesday's protest and any other action "'til justice is done," she told several hundred people gathered at Sharpton's National Action Network headquarters in Harlem.
He said that the planned pray-in is only the start of whatever actions are necessary to oppose the verdict.
"It's going to be a long struggle, but the race isn't given to the swift or the strong, but to those who endure," Sharpton said.
Latest Now in National
- President Obama on contraception coverage
- Grammy roundtable: Changing music biz
- Octavia Spencer on her "overnight success"
- Marine vet with PTSD found after 2 days in snow
- 5 killed in wrong-way crash in La.
- Grammys preview
- Report: Teacher in L.A. scandal paid $40K to go
- Music industry longevity: What it takes
- Grammy roundtable: Musical awakenings
- NYPD boss' son returns to TV after rape claim
- US airmen's killer gets life sentence in Germany
- Jason Aldean hoping to win a Grammy
- Music industry heavyweights talk Grammy nominees
- Marine SS photo riles major U.S. Jewish group
- The state of the music industry
- Has digital killed the record store?
- George Huguely Trial: the other man testifies
Latest CBS News Headlines
on Facebook
on CBS News
- Bernanke: Weak housing has hurt consumer spending
- Alexion rises after solid 4Q report and outlook
- Shares of Exide Technologies tumble on outlook
- NY's AG isn't backing down from Wall Street probe
on Facebook
- Adele sings a cappella for Anderson Cooper
- Tenn. father charged with murdering couple who"unfriended" daughter on Facebook
- Josh Powell had "incestuous" images on his home computer, authorities say
on CBS News






