Sharpton Stirs Up Trouble in New York
by Big Dog on Apr 28, 2008 at 08:42 General
In November of 2006 Sean Bell was attending his bachelor party at an establishment that was under surveillance by the police for alleged prostitution. One of Bell’s friends got into an argument and one of Bell’s friends was heard saying to get his gun and shoot the “white bitch” (the woman with whom the argument took place). They left and were followed by a police officer who had called for his back-up team. The police identified themselves and ordered Bell to put his hands up (while he was in his car). Instead of complying, Bell accelerated and struck an unmarked police car. The police opened fire and Bell was struck by four bullets and died of his injuries. The police shot fifty rounds in the incident.
Three of the officers were indicted on manslaughter and reckless endangerment charges. On April 25th the three officers were found not guilty on all counts. The judge in the case stated that the officer’s account of the evening was more credible than the accounts of Bell’s two friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, both of whom survived the shooting.
Reverend Al Sharpton has been involved in this case since just after the shooting and has paid witnesses to discuss what they saw. Their versions contradict police accounts that a fourth man ran from the scene and was believed to have a gun. After the verdict on Friday Sharpton vowed to shut down New York City. He did state that he was not calling for any violence but that he and the black community in New York intended to shut down the city. Of course, Sharpton always says he does not call for violence and then his chants of “no justice no peace” end up inciting people to commit violent acts sometimes leading to the deaths of others.
Sharpton stated:
“We strategically know how to stop the city so people stand still and realize that you do not have the right to shoot down unarmed, innocent civilians,” Sharpton told an overflow crowd of several hundred people at his National Action Network office in the historically black Manhattan neighborhood. “This city is going to deal with the blood of Sean Bell.” My Way News
I was not there and have no way of knowing what really happened any more than Sharpton does. However, Bell was intoxicated and when ordered by police to put his hands up accelerated his car and ran into theirs. His friend had been heard talking about getting a gun and killing a “white bitch” and the two friends have criminal records that involve guns. If Sean Bell had listened to the police and put his hands up he might still be alive today but instead he made an aggressive move that resulted in his death. Bell’s acts, in no way, can be seen as those of an innocent man. He might have been innocent when they ordered him to put his hands up but he lost his innocence when he accelerated and ran into their car.
Al Sharpton will incite a riot and people will probably get hurt. If we are fortunate one of the casualties will be Sharpton and he will no longer be around to incite black hatred. Whites in LA did not riot when OJ was found not guilty because the court had issued its ruling, like it or not.
The incident with Bell was tragic and though I personally think that shooting fifty times is excessive, I was not there. I do not know the neighborhood or the circumstances the officers faced. I do know that a court found them not guilty of manslaughter and that is good enough for me whether I think they are guilty or not. The only thing Sharpton can do is muddy the waters more than they are and promote hatred and racial intolerance.
Thanks to my friend Kender for this bit of humor to end this post:
The Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, while visiting a primary school class, found themselves in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings.
The teacher asked both men if they would like to lead the discussion of the word ‘tragedy’. So the illustrious Rev Jackson asks the class for an example of a ‘tragedy’.
One little boy stood up and offered: ‘If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field and a runaway tractor comes along and knocks him dead, that would be a tragedy.’
No,’ says the Great Jesse Jackson, ‘that would be an accident.’
A little girl raised her hand: ‘If a school bus carrying 50 children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy.’
I’m afraid not,’ explains the exalted Reverend Al. ‘That’s what we would call a great loss. ‘ The room goes silent. No other children volunteered.
Reverend Al searches the room. ‘Isn’t there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?’
Finally at the back of the room little Johnny raises his hand. In a stern voice he says: ‘If a plane carrying the Reverends Jackson and Sharpton were struck by a missile and blown to smithereens that would be a tragedy.’
Fantastic!’ exclaim Jackson and Sharpton, ‘That’s right. And can you tell us why that would be a tragedy?’
‘Well,’ says little Johnny, ‘because it sure as hell wouldn’t be a great loss, and it probably wouldn’t be an accident either!”
Other Sources:
WCBSTV
Wikipedia: Sean Bell Shooting
Tags: bell, New York, police, riots, sharpton
First of all, that story rocks. Hillarious – and so true, I love it. Second, I know this is not a popular view but I have to say that I think the ruling is fair and the racebaiters are just out there trying to cause trouble (what’s new). Police are taught to shoot in bursts of 2 to 4 shots so if there were numerous police officers there I can see why there were so many shots. Although I feel sorry for the young man and his family, he should have listened to the police and followed their orders rather than ramming them. That is a dangerous game and unfortunately he lost. I don’t know what kind of people these guys are and I was not there so I cannot say what happened. But I can say that if I were that cop, the guy would have gotten shot, no doubt in my mind.
Right on.
Or in the words of the Baltimore City police; “Halt or I’ll shoot you again”…
Several of the cops were black. If Bell or one of his friends had pulled a gun and killed them or a white cop, would Sharpton be closing down the city because of the violence toward cops?
For Al, it is all about how he can get his face on TV.
Sadly bigotry & prejudice are acceptable if it is against Caucasians, especially men. There is a double standard in our nation that approves of bigotry and preferential treatment as long as the person who participates in it or receives the special treatment is not white.
Rev. Wright said: “Louis Farrakhan is not my enemy. He did not put me in chains, he did not put me in slavery, and he didn’t make me this color.” when asked about Farrakhan. Well you know what, neither did I, nor my parents, nor my grandparents.
Truth be told, white, brown, and black men put Blacks in chains, sold them into slavery, and (depending on your views) circumstance, God or Evolution, and your parents made your skin that color. Not me, not my parents, and not their parents.
Instead of listing to racebaiters people need to listen to Bill Cosby.
Amen Scott. I did not put anyone in chains and I think people of all colors should live their lives in FREEDOM.
The disturbing point is that one cop alone fired the majority of the shots. Most police brutality involves minorities and is a serious problem, specially in bigger cities where the workload strains the capacity of the police force to work in an adequate manor.
Say what you want about Sharpton. This is not Sharpton versus Imus. No matter what color of skin the cops are, it’s still the same brutality and Sharpton has every right to try and defend the African American community against a very real problem.
Adams last blog post..A Hillary Clinton Stalwart?
Adam, I would like you to show us some statistics that demonstrate this very real problem. Police officers (and I am no fan of them) encounter hundreds of people and yet brutality is rare. This incident is tragic but that does not mean there was malice on the part of the cops. They made split second decisions based on the actions of people in a bad place.
Sharpton wants to close down a city for one incident while he ignores the huge numbers of black men killed by other black men each and every day.
The bottom line is that the court found them not guilty. Should whites riot when black men get off after brutally killing a white person? How did we react to OJ?
This is not one incident and it has nothing to do with black men killing black men and is not even directly related to racism though I’m sure some or even many cases involve it. When you mention Sharpton you want to dredge (or even Drudge) up images of race baiting which is why I mention Imus. This is a different monster all together.
While low compared to the number of police officers in the US(over 800,000 I think), the number of incidents of police brutality is on the rise in recent years and as this USA Today article points out that the vast majority of cases aren’t even prosecuted. I’ll be the first to defend police officers, but I won’t disregard the bad cops and bad decisions being made and the significance of police brutality in minority communities.
The article does not break it down by race so the idea of it being a minority problem is in question. I am sure that many white guys were brutalized but Sharpton never went to bat for them. you can say it is not black/white issue but Sharpton brought race into it as did others by the comments they made.
Bell did not put his hands up (the police believed one of them had a gun) and he accelerated and hit a police car. What were they supposed to do? If the cop only fired one shot and it killed Bell would that be OK?
Both Jeremiah Wright and Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakan, all are bigots…..if you are white you are wrong, if you are black you are an Uncle Tom…I am so tired of trying to be made to feel guilty about things I nor my ancestors have done or had any part in….why should I apologize? This was 100’s of years ago…..though I don’t hear them talking about slavery that is going on today by blacks, arabs etc…..
What Sharpton is trying to do (other than make himself seem important and vital to the black community) is create problems, instead of trying to fix them by helping the young black men and women….he is inciting them to hate and bigotry.
just one 1 cent 🙂