Sean Bell

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For the actor, see Sean Bell (actor).

Sean Bell (May 18, 1983–November 25, 2006) was an African-American who was shot and killed by plainclothes New York Police Department detectives on November 25, 2006. Bell and two other friends were leaving Bell's bachelor party at a strip club in Jamaica, Queens when they were shot, in an incident that sparked fierce criticism of the police for the killing of an unarmed man and drew comparisons to Amadou Diallo. Bell was to be married later that day.

Contents 1 Background 2 Incident 3 Response 4 References 5 See also

[edit] Background

Bell, who was the nephew of University of Miami basketball coach Frank Haith^[1], was a star pitcher for John Adams High School in Ozone Park, but gave up his sports dreams when his girlfriend became pregnant. His senior year season ended with an 11-0 record, a 2.30 E.R.A. and 97 strikeouts in 62.2 innings. Bell held odd jobs after the birth of his daughter. His fiancée, Nicole Paultre, told Larry King that Bell was an electrician by trade and in between jobs when the shooting occurred.^[2]

According to Fox News, Bell had been arrested three times, twice for drugs and once for a weapons violation.^[3] In all cases, he was released on his own recognizance. ^[4] The Daily News reported that, according to law enforcement sources, Bell sold crack cocaine twice to a confidential police informant in August of 2006. ^[5] Joseph Guzman and Terrence Benefield, also shot in the incident, had been arrested nine and two times, respectively.^[3]

[edit] Incident

At the time Bell was holding his bachelor party at Kalua Cabaret, the club was being investigated by seven undercover police detectives.^[6] The New York Post reported that, according to an undercover officer, Guzman had an argument inside the club with a woman and threatened to get a gun. The woman was overheard saying to the men arguing with Bell's friends, "I'm not doing you all. I'll do one or two, but not all," ^[7] The undercover officer followed the group and Bell was ordered by the officer to raise his hands after getting in his car. Instead, the car hit the undercover officer and, seconds later, an unmarked police minivan. ^[8]

Other accounts of the incident conflict with that of the undercover officers. According to Guzman and lawyer Michael Hardy, the detectives never identified themselves while they approached the vehicle with drawn weapons.^[5] Another source also told New York Daily News that the officers failed to warn Bell before opening fire and started firing immediately when leaving their vehicles. ^[9]

The police officer who initiated the gunfire said that he saw a fourth man in the car, who fled the scene amid the chaos, possibly with the alleged weapon that wasn't recovered. Some civilian witnesses at the scene support this claim, and pointed to Jean Nelson as the fourth man. Jean Nelson was present at the bachelor party and witnessed the shooting, but denies being in the car or possessing a gun. ^[10] According to The New York Times, a preliminary police report of the shooting contains

"... no meaningful discussion of a fourth man, a mysterious figure who some in the Police Department have suggested may have been present along with the three men who were shot. None of the witnesses whose accounts are in the report speaks of someone who may have fled — perhaps possessing a gun — and there are no indications that the police at the time were seeking anyone who may have left the scene." ^[11].

Critics suggest that the scenario was concocted by the police officer in order to justify the shooting. ^[10] Columnist Juan Gonzalez reported in New York Daily News that, according to a law enforcement source, in the hours immediately following the incident, there was no mention of a fourth man in the police calls and no search was launched for the potentially armed man. This source thus contradicted initial reports that the police searched the neighborhood for the missing man. ^[12]

In an interview on Larry King Live, accompanying Bell's fiancée Nicole Paultre, Al Sharpton stated that according to his conversations with eye-witnesses, none of the three men who were shot mentioned a gun while leaving the club. Sharpton also felt that it would be impossible for the persons in the car to have heard the police from within the car, and that they were likely to fear that they were being carjacked.^[2]

According to Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, one veteran officer emptied two full magazines, firing 31 shots from a 9mm handgun and pausing to reload at least once.^[6] Some shots hit nearby homes and a train station. Five of the seven officers investigating the club were involved in the shooting; their names are not being released for their own safety.^[13]

Guzman, 31, was shot at least 11 times and Benefield, 23, who was in the back seat, was hit three times. Both men were taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital; Guzman was listed in critical condition and Benefield was in stable condition.^[6] Guzman is still hospitalized, and his condition has been upgraded to stable. Benefield has been released from the hospital.^[14] Surveillance cameras at the Port Authority's Jamaica Ave. AirTrain station a half block away from the shooting site recorded one of the bullets fired by the cops shattering through the station's glass window and narrowly missing a civilian and two Port Authority patrolmen who were standing on the station's elevated platform. ^{[12] [15]}

[edit] Response

Hundreds of protesters came out over the weekend following Bell's death to protest the amount of force used; protests continued into the following week.^[16] Some have noted the similarity between this incident and past shootings of unarmed people, including Amadou Diallo and Gidone Busch.^[8][17] The family has designated Al Sharpton as their advisor. ^[18]

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has said "it sounds to me like excessive force was used,"^[19] and has called the shooting "inexplicable" and "unacceptable".^[18] New York governor George E. Pataki has also stated that the shooting was excessive.^[18] Kelly has put the five officers involved on paid administrative leave and stripped them of their weapons, a move the New York Times called "forceful".^[18] He told the Times that the officers were stripped of their guns because "there were, and are, too many unanswered questions."^[18] Both Bloomberg and Kelly have also noted that the shooting was possibly in violation of department guidelines prohibiting shooting at a moving vehicle, even if the vehicle is being used as a weapon.^[20]

An investigation is ongoing by the Queens district attorney's office and a grand jury is pending. Some activists have called for a special prosecutor in the case, but New York Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer has said he does not see the need for this.^[14] The NYPD's Internal Affairs Department has interviewed witnesses, included the two undercover officers who did not fire their weapons, ^[14], Benefield, and Guzman.^[21] Prosecuters will be reviewing tape recordings of these interviews and are awaiting ballistics reports. The office has contacted each of the five officers involved through their lawyers and will be interviewing the officers shortly.^[14]

Brooklyn rapper Papoose has also recorded and dedicated a song to Sean Bell titled Change Gon' Come (it is also referred to as 50 Shots). The song discusses the complications that New York Police have when accessing a possible crime, and critcizes New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the media for their commentory and reaction towards the shooting as well.The song also shows his distaste for poor law enforcement. The song is also dedicated to Amadou Diallo who was killed in a near identical fashion in 1999. At the end of the song, fifty sound-effect gunshots can be heard. The song is featured on his mixtape, The 4th Quarter Assasin.

Queens rapper Nas has also lashed out at the NYPD for their actions, comparing the officers to gangsters and claiming that "the one['s] who reloaded [their] weapons should "go before the judge and plead guilty". He also refers to the officers as not "being brave enough to face the charges as [men]" because they, in his opinion, acted "like gangsters [would]" He furthered the comment by comparing Bell's slaying with the executions of slaves in the early 1900s.

Both he, Nas, and NBA player Chris Webber offered to pay for the expenses of the funeral, but both were told that the NAACP had already paid the costs. Instead, both celebrities decided to provide financial assistance to Bell's fiancee and the couple's two children. link

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Contagious shooting
• Jean-Charles de Menezes
• Amadou Diallo
• Johnny Gammage
• Ousmane Zongo