Al Sharpton Arrested During Sean Bell Demonstrations

***UPDATE***: AP confirms Sharpton's arrest, along with other protesters:

The Rev. Al Sharpton was among dozens arrested Wednesday as demonstrators blocked traffic at the height of the evening rush hour to protest the acquittal of three detectives in the 50-bullet shooting of an unarmed black man on his wedding day.

Police said 216 people were arrested, including Sharpton, two survivors of the shooting and the slain man's fiancee. They lined up and put their hands behind their backs as police arrested them on disorderly conduct charges.

Sharpton, the two survivors and the fiancee were released about four hours later, said Sharpton spokeswoman Rachel Noerdlinger.

The demonstrators prayed, sang and chanted slogans including "no justice, no peace" as they converged on six heavily used bridges and tunnels that carry traffic to and from Manhattan island. The protests were part of a coordinated campaign to urge federal authorities to investigate the shooting of Sean Bell in November 2006.

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MSNBC is reporting that Al Sharpton has been arrested during the Sean Bell protests.

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Demonstrators plan to pray on their knees and be arrested for civil disobedience to protest the acquittals of three police officers in the death of an unarmed man shot on his wedding day, the Rev. Al Sharpton said Saturday.

The civil rights activist, who has promised to "close this city down" to protest last month's verdict, said protesters would stage a "pray-in" Wednesday at half a dozen places in the city, including the police headquarters.

Hundreds of angry people marched through Harlem a day after the officers were cleared in the November 2006 death of Sean Bell, 23. Two friends were wounded in the barrage of 50 shots fired by the undercover officers and two colleagues outside a night club where Bell had just left his bachelor party.

Sean Bell was black. His death rekindled long-standing tensions over alleged racism and excessive force by police, even though two of the officers charged are also black.

Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell _ who took his name after his death _ plans to participate in Wednesday's protest and any other action "till justice is done," she told several hundred people gathered at Sharpton's National Action Network headquarters in Harlem, the historically black Manhattan neighborhood.

Sharpton said participants would gather at 3 p.m. in at least six places around the city and then fan out to undisclosed locations.

"Where we go from there is anybody's guess," Rachel Noerdlinger, Sharpton's spokeswoman, said later, adding that wherever protesters end up, "they'll be arrested praying."

The "pray-in" is only the start of whatever actions are necessary to oppose the verdict.

"It's going to be a long struggle, but the race isn't given to the swift or the strong, but to those who endure," Sharpton said.

Comments

[lisakaz2]

Heck, a dog deserves better.

[lisakaz2]

I can't say that I like Al all that much but I think Sean Bell deserved better than dying from 50 shots fired at him. I don't see justification for that kind of firepower any more than Amadou Diallo deserved 41. This shoot-now, question-later trigger happy pov has to change. Overkill doesn't begin to describe it. Bell's bride and family deserve better.

[Eileen1]

People seem think that Sean Bell and company where boy scouts.
Sean Bell was arrested twice for selling crack cocaine to an undercover police officer. He was arrested one other time for firearms possession.Joseph Guzeman was arrested nine times, including once for firearms possession.Benefield had three arrests on his record including one for firearms possession. Since the Bell shooting, Benefield was arrested 2 more times and pled guilty to charges araising out of hitting the mother of his baby.These three men are exactly the kind of men that I want the police to protect me and my family from. We want to go back and second guess what these officers did. We are asking them to be perfect when they are only human. In my mind, the officers are heros for trying to protect the vast law abiding citizenry from people who want to live outside of societies rules. These police officers acted to protect us and maybe they didn't do things 100% the we why would have liked but they did their best in the circumstances.Maybe its time we thought about the kind of society we would have if the drug dealers had free run of our communities. Maybe its time that we as communities stand up and say that we will not allow lawlessness to exist in our communities, instead of turning a blind eye and expecting the police and government to deal with the problem.

[soundmind]

(continued)The officers made an extremely poor judgment, and they are not heroes in any sense of the word. They did not 'do their best', and expecting police not to shoot first and ask questions later is hardly 'asking them to be perfect'. This whole 'the police were just doing their job' attitude is exactly why this sort of thing continues to happen, and it's just a few steps down the road from martial law. I actually agree that we as communities should stand up against lawlessness, and that should include lawlessness by the police. It is not their job (or yours, or mine) to decide who lives or dies, who has rights and who doesn't. Police are there to enforce laws, not interpret them or make their own. Working in law enforcement does not place you above the law. BTW, on a side note, drug dealers do have free run of our communities, we just don't always know who they are. Killing them solves nothing, because another will move right in. The only thing that stops drug dealers is when nobody buys their product.

[soundmind]

This is one of the most ignorant and senseless things I've heard said on this subject. I don't think I heard anyone trying to say that these guys were free of any wrongdoing throughout their lives (most of us aren't)... but that really isn't the issue here, and to suggest that it is shows a tremendous amount of arrogance on your part. Arrest records notwithstanding, the fact that police are acquitted time and time again in incidents like this suggests that they have a right to decide who lives and who dies. You seem to think you have that right too, as you state that you want the police to protect you and your family from these kind of people (and killing them at will is an acceptable way of doing that). These officers may have indeed thought they were doing good, may have thought they were protecting the public, but the fact remains: they fired nearly 50 shots into a vehicle full of unarmed young men, killing one. Your comment about arrest records is irrelevant - The men in question weren't breaking any laws at the time, and it's not as if the officers checked their IDs & records and then shot them. They could have been Boy Scouts and the result would have been the same. (continued)

[dadumdee]

So basically, if you've ever been arrested you should face a firing squad? Wow. Even if I bought your argument that these unarmed guys were menaces to society and threats to the officers, what expains the officer who reloaded?

Also, a challenge: Find me an unarmed White guy who was shot at by police using 50+ bullets. I googled it, but I didnt find anything and don't have much time to search. It should be easy because there are way more White people in the US than there are Black people.

[Horst]

Well said...this is not a civil rights issue, rather one of police competence.

[cpeterz]

i have attended a town hall meeting, and i was there at the protests.
very racially mixed crowd in each case.
it's not the race of the officers that is an issue, it's the consistent racial demographics of the unarmed civilians that are gunned down. by the nypd-with no consequences. that sends a message.
there will never be one of these type "oops-overkill" shootings in certain neighborhoods, regardless of the actions of defendants.
a lot of people are saddened and hurt that this has happened again.

[Horst]

The real tragedy is that the civil rights movement has been hijacked by hustlers like Sharpton.

[stoneworks]

I've hardly heard anything about this in the press. This is an incredibly serious matter and once again, the cops get off scott free. The fact that the cops were black only underlines the overall injustice and brutality of the enforcement system of New York upon black citizens, racism or not.