Sharpton plans mass arrests to protest Sean Bell verdict

Hopefully the turnout will be higher than the one they tried holding at the Port Authority the other day. The crowd numbered 50 at best.

Let's see if I got it strait here. We have the locations. We"ve been told that it will be non-violent. The police have issued a statement that they are not expecting violence either. And all of the locations are acessesible to public transportation. The only thing missing here is how big of a picnic basket we should bring.

"Reference was made earlier to the credibility of witnesses. The court has found that the people's ability to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt was affected by a combination of the following factors: the prosecution witnesses' prior inconsistent statements, inconsistencies in testimony among prosecution witnesses, the renunciation of prior statements, criminal convictions, the interest of some witnesses in the outcome of the case, the demeanor on the witness stand of other witnesses and the motive witnesses may have had to lie and the effect it had on the truthfulness of a witness's testimony. These factors played a significant part in the people's ability to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt and had the effect of eviscerating the credibility of those prosecution witnesses. And, at times, the testimony just didn't make sense....Trent Benefield, whose credibility was seriously impeached, testified that he was shot while running down Liverpool Street. Forensic evidence demonstrated otherwise...."

- Justice Arthur Cooperman of the New York State Supreme Court for Queens County

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How can we Americans discover truth, how can we Americans determine if this trial was fair and impartial, while the surviving shooting victims and the eyewitnesses overtly lie about what happened? Rather clear there was and is an agenda to convict those police officers based upon false witness and false testimony. Those who lied should be charged with perjury.

Al Sharpton is basing his organized protest upon lies. Al Sharpton is a dishonest man.

Should not Al Sharpton be protesting this attempt at subversion of our system of justice through clear and overt deceit?

Rather clear to me Al Sharpton is not a truth seeker rather is deceitful grandstander.

I find this type of hypocrisy to be exceptionally offensive.

Okpulot Taha
Choctaw Nation

only in america can cops get away with murder !And they know it .

Did any of u all read any of of the comments bell`s parents said ? They didnt even get a call from police nor the hospital . they found out through family that their son had been shoot to death. When they went to the hospital they had to wait 6 hrs before they could even seen him and then when they did he was on the gurney dead and still handcuffed ? Still no cops nor doctor spoke to them . What kind of crap is this ? Still handcuffed I guess they thought after 51 bullets he could still run ? What a disgrace that they treated this people like trash after their son had been shot .

I only hope its not just black New Yorker's, since police brutality crosses all lines and affects all the citizens of any city that allows it to happen, no matter the hateful, racist nonsense that some of the trolls here post.

i support the police and i am an afro-american. how can we attack the police hear when they were fellow afro-americans? maybe if whitey were the cops, id agree with y'all, but the cops were brothers!

It's not about race for me. It's about justice and based on what i've heard these police officers did not have the right to do what they've done and should be held accountable. You can't do wrong and get away with it, otherwise we are all in trouble. From what i understand the detectives were undercover and didn't identify themselves as police officers...that makes a great difference in this case and should have been a factor in the determination. I am so sick of those in authority positions that get away with literal murder...GOD DAMN THEM!!!

Darnell my brother look again at the facts of the case. The one who reloaded and fired 31 of the shots was a very cockey (you-just-want-to-stomp-the-shit-out-of-his-ass) white boy. THis bastard has Staten Island written all over his face.

The very next night he was down in Chelsea partying just like Sean Bell was with his girlfriend and even smirked at the camera. A

lso the Lt. that was in charge of these officers testified that he did not follow proceedure. This young smart mouth had a history of doing things the way he wanted them done. He also has a history of not respecting authority. He was a loose cannon that finally went off. The judge had plenty of reasons to wait before announcing the not guilty verdict. I knew they were going to walk for that reason alone.

I also think that Officer Isnora is gay. My radar goes full blast when they show his face. He is the one I really feel sorry for. When you take jobs that might require you to go to he aid of a fellow officer regardless if you know he is in the wrong then you have to do what you have to do. If you don't they will remember that if you ever need help.

It is because of Sharpton's lack of interest in what happened to Michael Sandy that I see no reason to go to these protests. They honestly sound more like parades than protests. The locations, times, and so forth have all been given. Get real. Does that sound like a protest intended to shut down a city the size of NY to you?

These young men and that crowd of hoodlums that hang around those clubs prompted a police investigation for some reason or other. This is just the tragic result of one investigation. There are others still going on. If they had been found guilty it would have had a deep impact on the mentality of the officers that have to do these types of investigations. Think about if for a minute. They sure did get away with murder. It is really sad too.

Rather ironic the victims and the witnesses are directly responsible for this acquittal. Results of this trial may have been different if so many had not lied on the witness stand. Judge Cooperman is very clear in his wording those officers could only be exonerated because so many lied to the court about events.

My take is the officer who fired excessive rounds is guilty, perhaps guilty of manslaughter. Now he is set free because victims and witnesses chose to lie rather than tell the truth.

Should we fall to judging people based upon lies, our country is no longer a democracy.

Turn the tables upon yourself. Should you, the reader, be charged with a crime and witnesses gave false testimony about events, what would be your reaction? Is convicting an innocent person for a crime, true justice?

Al Sharpton says, “..you’re going to have to lock up the innocent.” Some of those people are not innocent. Some of those people lied on the witness stand. This is a crime of perjury. Some of those people are criminals and should be locked up, but not for being “innocent” as Sharpton claims. These are people who committed perjury in an attempt to take away the freedom of others. Is this the type of reputation Black America wants to earn?

Has not Black America learned anything from the O. J. Simpson trial?

Why is there no outcry by Sharpton about those who committed perjury in court? Many Americans will assume Sharpton a deceitful man and will assume Sharpton a man who does not support our democratic way of life; Sharpton would have innocent people placed in prison based upon false testimony, or at best, guilty people placed in prison based upon false testimony.

Sharpton is both condoning and promoting injustice. Sharpton is not a good American.

Okpulot Taha
Choctaw Nation

People are making this out to be more then what it is.... first of all, I don't care how you look at it, those police where wrong for what they did. They shot three unarmed men period, nothing anybody says will change that fact. They were unarmed which means that they were victims. Do you believe everything that you heard about this case? I think that the victims should have had a real jury to decide whether or not the police were innocent or guilty, not a judge, but being that O.J. was found innocent they didn't want to take the chance of the same thing happening again, they didn't want a jury of their peers to make a sound judgement on this case so they left it in the hands of one person who wasn't dealing with a full deck..... So what he was a judge, they are not always right either.

Everybody should be looking at the facts about this case, and the fact is, those men were unarmed, and you don't go around shotting unarmed people, period. What those men did in the past should stay there, it doesn't matter if they had a record before this happened, they still didn't do anything that night. No one has the right to call them hoodlums for something that they may have done in the past. As for Al Sharpton.... he is what he is. He is letting it be known that no matter what people did in the past they are still people and they have a right to be respected and defended. I wonder.... when did it become alright to kill innocent people. I'm afraid to let my son go out in the streets for fear of a police officer taking his life "just because". How long will this go on. If something like this happened in a white area, they would have been singing a different tune. Get real people wrong is wrong no matter how you look at it.

Pissed Off comments,

"They shot three unarmed men period...."

No, those men were armed with a motor vehicle and used this motor vehicle as a deadly weapon.

Pissed Off continues,

"I think that the victims should have had a real jury to decide...."

One of our rights under our Criminal Justice System is a choice between a jury trial or a judge trial. We cannot take away this right and remain a democratic society.

This Sean Bell incident is a preventable tragedy and this clear attempt to subvert our Justice System is a preventable tragedy.

We all must abide by the laws of our country. We cannot dispense justice based upon whim and wish of a select few, we cannot subvert our Justice System and still claim we are a free peoples.

The days of Hanging Judge Roy Bean are long past and are to remain in the past. The days of lynch mobs are long past and are to remain in the past.

This acquittal is a direct result of victims and witnesses bearing false witness in court. This acquittal is a result of some attempting to subvert our Justice System. True justice has been served, whether we agree with this justice or not. Justice has been administered according to the laws of our nation. People need to respect this and need to respect the laws of our nation.

Okpulot Taha
Choctaw Nation

Al Sharpton is just a media whore. He will keep this going and drain it for everything it's worth, and leave it with no end result.

LOL. 50 g/d bullets were fired at a car that was not firing back. One cocky little asshole who was given a gun and the right to take a life when he chooses to and also had a history of ignoring authority smirks for the news cameras the next night while out partying with his girlfriend at a night club in Chelsea. He simply showed very little remorse at emptying two clips at three unarmed black men.

And now a staunch defender of these actions from a person who lives in a place where the language of their people is not spoken fluently by the majority of the populace gets his or her ass on a black website and defends this shit. I'll bet Gen Custer has his defenders amongst the very people he was on his way set up to be slaughtered.

Even though they knew they were not going to win I have nothing but praise for Chief Crazy Horse, Geronimo, and Sitting Bull. Someone had to take a stand against what they knew was wrong and they did it. Shoot any indians that come within rifle range. Let them know that if they want to stay alive then don't come within range of the bullet.

I don't think that any of those chiefs would look at Rev. Sharpton and say he is wrong for pointing out that this was a strait out slaughter. It is what it was. A slaughter. The damn car came to a stop and they (or should I day he) continued to fire knowing that they were not being fired back at. There is no video evidence to back up what these officers said happened. Unfortunately the witnesses had backgrounds that only helped the defense. This is a tradgedy at best. A slaughter in fact.

It is sad to think that nowadays there are people of indian ancestry who would no doubt find a way to defend the actions of the U.S. military and the atrocities committed against the indian. Truly sad indeed.

Brucito comments,

"And now a staunch defender of these actions from a person who lives in a place where the language of their people is not spoken fluently by the majority of the populace gets his or her ass on a black website and defends this shit."

You are practicing deceit. Your deceit defeats your words, just as deceit defeated the black community's hope for justice. You cannot practice deceit and expect justice.

I have not defended this "shit" as you claim with deceit. I have written those police officers were set free because some of the black community elected to be deceitful upon the witness stand.

Those police officers were set free because victims and eyewitnesses lied about events. This is not a defense of events, this is speaking truthfully about why justice was not served per the wishes of the black community.

This perceived injustice is the fault of the local black community. Those people elected to commit perjury, they received the justice they earned. Now the black community complains because our Justice System will not accept their lies as a surrogate for truth.

You cannot practice deceit and expect justice, Brucito.

Okpulot Taha
Choctaw Nation

There is no justification that anyone can give me for 50 plus bullets being fired into one lone black man regardless of the polices color. If black men are projecting that kind of terror on City Streets then brothers we have a serious crisis on our hands ---- none of us are safe.

Purl since you were obviously there the night it took place what else is there to say? Keep in mind when William Kennedy forced himself upon an intoxicated young woman his very smart attorney made it look at though it was her fault. Everything pointed to rape.

That must be a very comfortable teepee you are living in out there. You are the type of indian who would refer to the Braves who fought the U.S. Calvary as terrorists.