Sean Bell Injustice
Three policemen from New York were last week acquitted of the murder of Sean Bell, the INNOCENT black man who was gunned down with an array of 51 BULLETS on his stag night.
According to the policemen (two of whom were black themselves), they were investigating an alleged prostitution ring they suspected was occurring at the strip club that Mr Bell and his friends had visited to celebrate his last night as a batchelor…not knowing it was going to be his last night period. The policemen also ‘believed’ that Mr Bell and his friends were armed and about to carry out a drive-by shooting…HOW???!!!!???…because they were a group of black men coming out of a strip club or what exactly???
So as Mr Bell and his friends get into their vehicle, they are followed-or should I say ‘chased’ for want of a better word-by the policemen, who then begin to fire shots at Mr Bell’s car. Subsequently, Mr Bell sped up his vehicle. I don’t know about you all but I know for a fact if i was driving and all of a sudden someone started spraying bullets at my car, I wouldn’t exactly slow down-I would speed away for my life.
Unfortunately for Sean Bell, he sped away but was unable to save his life. His friends were also unlucky as they ended up in critical conditions in hospital, but Mr Bell, the unluckiest of them all, the man who was supposed to be marrying his high-school sweetheart in a few hours from the incident, the man who was looking forward to spending the rest of his life with the woman he loved and their baby, was RECKLESSLY gunned down….not with one or two stray bullets or anything…but 51…yes I repeat…51 carefully-aimed bullets.
Last week, all three policemen-one of Latino descent, and the other two of African-American descent-were cleared of all charges by a New York judge, who claimed that the policemen had “acted in the line of duty”. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT???!!!!???Ok,I’m not an American, and I certainly don’t know how the police system works, but I am a human-being and I know for a fact that no matter what, you cannot fire 51 BULLETS at an INNOCENT,UN-ARMED man and say you were doing your job-if this is the supposed requirements of being “in the line of duty” as an American policeman, then I’m sorry but they shouldn’t be called policemen.
After the incident, there was no gun or any weapon found in Mr Bell’s car- nothing to suggest that the policemen had a right to fire at him with 51 BULLETS (I keep writing 51 BULLETS in capital letters just to emphasise how ridiculous the situation is-the fact that an UN-ARMED man could be fired with 51 BULLETS just because these ‘policemen’ thought him and his friends were armed). Ok, so they fired at Mr Bell and his friends because they ‘assumed’ that the group were armed and about to carry out a drive-by shooting…but these are the same policemen that said they were stationed outside that particular strip club because they were investigating a prostitution ring that they thought was occurring within the premises of the club. So why didn’t they keep on investigating,why is it that as soon as Mr Bell and his friends stepped out, they decided to ‘drop’ this prostitution ring investigation and follow this group of black men as they ‘APPEARED’ to be armed and they looked like they were about to carry out a drive-by shooting. I haven’t ever witnessed a drive-by shooting and I don’t know what kind of planning goes into one but surely the last thing any would-be drive-by shooter would want is to draw attention to themselves or make their intentions clear to anyone-especially the feds.I mean there was me thinking it’s called drive-by shooting so that the would-be shooters could carry out their deed quickly and unsuspectingly.
I know most of you might think it would be stupid and ignorant of me to suggest that racism played a part- as two of the policemen were black themselves- but that does’t mean NOTHING to me,I’m still going to suggest that racism was involved. The reason I believe racism was involved is because I have personally had experience of my fellow black people, who are prepared to treat their fellow black people like unfairly, just so the white man’s perception of them as an individual can rise. Basically, what I’m trying to say is I know a lot of black people that suck up to the white race, just because they feel it will get them ahead or whatever. Im soooo sorry if this sounds like I’m being racist to white people…this truly isnt my intention but I’m just trying to get my point across of how perhaps the Sean Bell case had racial elements in it-regardless that two of the policemen that shot him were black.
A prime example to highlight what I mean when i say that are some black people that treat other black people bad, just so they can suck up to a white person is a personal story- not of me myself but my friend. My friend has recently started a job at our local McDonald’s, where there is a black woman who is an Assistant Manager. Whilst talking via MSN not long ago, my friend told me how the black Assistant Manager keeps giving her cuts (dirty looks) for no reason, and being particularly rude to her when instructing her to do something. This doesn’t happen to the other members of staff who happen to all be white-it just happens to her-by her fellow black woman. Don’t get it twisted I’m not suggesting she should be getting any special treatment because she’s black and the Assistant Manager happens to be black as well;all I’m saying is,if the Assistant Manager is able to be nice to all the other employees, then what did my friend (the new employee) do to her that was so bad for her to deserve such attitude within her first few days of the job?!?
Personally, I think even though black people can come together sometimes, I also believe there are times when we are jealous of each other and this perhaps causes some ‘black-on-black’ racism. I know it sounds stupid but this is just my opinion.
I could make parallels between the Sean Bell case, and that of Jean-Charles De Menezes, the Brazilian man shot in Stockwell tube station because police thought he was a terrorist. The main issue that led to both these men being gunned down was a case of mistaken identity-note i say the MAIN issue not the only issue.
I just don’t see how it’s right that a person’s occupational status can give them the right to end someone’s life, and then claim that they were just carrying out their job. Seriously yeah, to me that sounds about as ridiculous as a doctor who is perhaps carrying out a transplant operation and puts the organ in the wrong place…what would their excuse be then…”Oh,I was just doing my job;in situations like this its inevitable that such mistakes can occur”…ermmmmm naaaaaaaaaaah don’t think so!!
In both of these cases, I feel sorry mainly for the victims, but also their families, who have to deal with knowing that their loved-one was killed for NO REASON AT ALL!!Especially with the Sean Bell case, a young woman who’s life was shattered just hours from what should have been the happiest day of her life, now shehas to raise a young child alone and is now faced with the hard task of one day having to explain to that child that the reason why daddy is not around is because three policemen were “acting in the line of duty”.
Chris Horrie said,
May 3, 2008 at 9:16 pm
this is a racist civilisation and the constant problem for black people, it seems to me, is that they are thought of as guilty unless they can prove they are not. Eg if they are driving an expensive car it will often be assumed they have probably stolen it; but maybe they bought it. A white person with with the same car – there’s the assumption that they probably bought it; and maybe they stole it. That’s what I think. The basic point of justice is that you should be presumed to be innocent unless there’s complete proof that you are guilty. I think black people are rarely given the benefit of the doubt in this way. Plus there’s this total identification of black people, and especially black young men, with violence and crime. So it must be very tough to be a black person in this society and I am surprised that black people are not more angry about it and going nuts all the time.