May 8th, 2008
How Many bullets are too many bullets?
I would hate to see what would have transpired had Al Sharpton stood on top of a vehicle during his Civil Disobedience Demonstration in New York yesterday, and made calls to his constituents to rip the city to shreds. I wonder how the emotion filled crowd would have responded. Instead he called for a prayer session that took place in the middle of New York City in rush hour traffic. With hands held and heads bent in prayer Sharpton coalated a demonstration meant to call attention to the malice and injustice being handed down the citizens of New York by its very own NYPD. When I think about past instances of political injustice, they are often followed by assaults, looting and a host of other chaotic events such as riots, arsine, car jacking's and the ransacking of local homes and businesses. It is fortunate and I am thankful that Reverend Al showed restraint and conducted himself and his advocates in a well organized but non violent manner. Reverend Al along with several demonstrators were jailed as a result of the incident, he was released shortly after on bond, a small price to pay in the fight for fair treatment of the citizens in this country.
At the moment it looks as if the City won’t have to pay out the 50 Million dollars that the deceased victim’s fiancé is suing for, after her would be husband was gunned down and killed following his bachelor party at a Queens Night Club Nov. 25, 2006. Whenever something unorthodox takes place like a 50 shot barrage of bullets being fired at an unarmed suspect by plain clothed police officers, and a judge pardons all of the admitted shooters, one of which fired 31 shots after emptying his guns first cartridge of bullets, reloading a second cartridge of bullets and then firing that second cartridge into the victim until it too was empty, you can always trace the cause of the unorthodox act back to a large sum of money. In this case I think the ruling was a ploy on the cities behalf to undermine the 50 million dollar law suit being brought against it by acquitting the officers of all charges, thus limiting the legal ramifications that would befall upon the city in the wake of a guilty plea being handed down to its officers. Think about it, acquitted of all charges, meaning, murdered an innocent man last night, pulling you over and giving you a traffic ticket in the morning. I think the fiancé’s suit of a million dollars a bullet is too little. Rodney King was awarded in excess of 40 million dollars and he lived to tell his story. This man was brutally shot and killed on the night before his wedding; he leaves behind a grieving wife and two children who will never see their father again.
To be fair and balanced in a Fox News sort of way… There are reports that the victim was drunk when he left the club, that he hit one of the plain clothed officers in the leg with his vehicle as he attempted to drive away from the chaos that erupted after the party. The officers also state that the victim Sean Bell crashed into an "unmarked" police van twice as he unsuccessfully attempted to flee the scene on the night in question. One of the officers then said they saw the victim reach for his waistband, in response he yelled "Gun!" and the resulting shooting incident involving a 50 shot flurry of police issued bullets ensued. No gun or evidence that the victim had a gun was ever obtained.
The calls for Civil Disobedience by the Reverend Al Sharpton is a lenient penalty for the City of New York, whose response to the insidious actions of the so called "New York’s Finest", is a mockery of both the justice system as well as the people that the justice system was designed to "protect and serve." The Justice Department says that they will investigate the incident, and Congressman Conyers The chair of the judiciary committee will hold hearings in reguards of the issue on Monday.
- Mossberg Cruz
