N.Y. Shooting Spawns Anger

For three weeks, angry demonstrators in New York City have raged against the shooting death of Amidou Diallou. On the morning of Feb. 5, police looking for a rapist fired 41 bullets at the innocent and unarmed West African immigrant.

On Thursday, the protests reached Washington, and the Justice Department.

"This man was facing a firing squad," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, a black activist.

"It's a madness. It's almost a fascist madness," said Rev. Jesse Jackson. "Diallou is another box on a long train of abuses."

Civil rights leaders urged Attorney General Janet Reno to be more aggressive in punishing police misconduct.

So far, the four officers have not testified before the grand jury investigating the shooting. The autopsy found Diallou was hit 19 times.

The barrage of 41 bullets even shocked New York's combative mayor, Rudolph Guiliani. "I feel terribly about it and I've apologized for it directly to Mr. Diallou's father," he said.

Partly in response to community anger, Guiliani announced Thursday the largest ever drive to recruit more minorities for the police force.

A veteran black officer, Lt. Eric Adams, says it's not the racial make-up of the force that's the problem. It's the training. Police, he says, must admit their individual prejudices and then correct them.

"Too often we would like to deny that the racial component of policing exists, and it does exist," Adams said.

Civil rights leaders hope Diallou's death will become a catalyst for change. They're asking other victims of police brutality to come to Washington, D.C. on April 3, one day before the anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King, Jr.

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