[Antiracism] Fwd: [Africa-Brazil-Cuba] New York police kill unarmed man, wound two others

[Yvonne Mendez]

Another violent death in our community!
-YM

----------

Begin forwarded message:

> From: African Diaspora <abc_africa at yahoo.com>
> Date: Tue Nov 28, 2006  11:27:07 PM US/Eastern
> To: AfricaWorld at yahoogroups.com, AfricanPeoples at yahoogroups.com, 
> AFRICA-BRAZIL-CUBA at yahoogroups.com, 
> Ghana-PANAFEST-Festival at yahoogroups.com, 
> Africa_Network at yahoogroups.com, AfricaNetwork at yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Africa-Brazil-Cuba] New York police kill unarmed man, wound 
> two others
>
>
>
>
> New York police kill unarmed man, wound two others
>
> By Sandy English
>  
> 28 November 2006
>
>
> On Saturday, November 25, a few hours before his wedding, Sean Bell,
> 23, was
> shot to death in his car by undercover New York City police officers in
> Jamaica, Queens. Police bullets struck the former UPS driver twice,
> once in
> the neck and once in the arm.
>
> Police fired 50 rounds from semi-automatic weapons even though Bell and
> his
> two companions in the car were unarmed. One of them, Joseph Guzman, 31,
> remains in critical condition with 11 bullet wounds to the neck and
> leg.
>
> According to the New York Post, Guzman was handcuffed to his bed after
> the
> shooting and was released from the restraints only after press
> inquiries.
> The other passenger, Trent Benefield, 23, received multiple wounds in
> the
> assault and was handcuffed and shackled to his hospital bed.
>
> The three men had left the Kalua Cabaret nearby at about 4:00 a.m.
> after
> attending a bachelor party for Bell. Undercover detectives had been in
> the
> bar at the time, followed the trio out, and allegedly heard Guzman
> refer to
> a gun during a minor altercation.
>
> After the three had gotten into the car, another detective confronted
> them,
> put his foot on the car, and pointed his weapon at them, ordering them
> out
> of the vehicle. Bell reportedly drove his car at the officer, slightly
> injuring him, and then rammed a white, unmarked police van that had
> come
> around the corner.
>
> The detective fired 11 rounds at the car, and another detective who had
> jumped out of the van fired 31 rounds, indicating that he reloaded.
> Three
> other officers also fired their weapons.
>
> The first cop had allegedly shouted into his walkie-talkie, “It’s
> getting
> hot on Liverpool! For real, I think there’s a gun!” In other words,
> the
> mere
> suspicion of a weapon was the cause of disproportionate force on the
> part of
> the police.
>
> Friends of the three victims argue that the men mistook the police for
> robbers. According to Trini Wright, a dancer at the club who witnessed
> the
> incident, the police did not identify themselves before they opened
> fire.
> Speaking to the Daily News she said, “The minivan came around the
> corner and
> smashed into their car. And they [the cops] jumped out shooting. No
> ‘stop.’
> No ‘freeze.’ No nothing.”
>
> Another witness, China Flores, quoted in the Daily News, said that it
> was
> only after the shooting had started that the police identified
> themselves.
> When Trent Benefield staggered out of the car, she said, “He’s
> shouting,
> ‘Stop shooting at me! Stop shooting at me!’” According to Flores,
> police
> officers continued firing at Benefield even after he lay down on the
> ground.
>
> Police Commissioner Richard Kelly announced at a news conference on
> Sunday
> that there was a grand jury investigation into the incident, and Queens
> District Attorney Richard Brown assured everyone of a “full, fair and
> complete investigation.”
>
> The murder is reminiscent of the police killing of Amadou Diallo in
> 1999,
> who had 41 bullets fired at him after he reached for his wallet. The
> killing
> was presented variously as a panicky aberration on the part of the
> police,
> or as a function of the law-and-order fanaticism of then-mayor Rudolph
> Giuliani. No one was ever convicted of the crime.
>
> But time and again police killings like this take place in New York. In
> one
> case in 2004, police shot 19-year-old Timothy Stansbury without warning
> as
> he was returning home from a birthday party.
>
> As the World Socialist Web Site noted about the incident at the time,
> “The
> reasons for the fatal encounter in Brooklyn are to be found less in the
> personal psychology of Neri [the police officer who killed Stansbury]
> than
> in the social pathology of policing in New York City. The police are
> charged
> with enforcing a status quo based on immense social inequality, in a
> city
> which boasts one of the greatest concentrations of millionaires and
> billionaires, but where at least a third of its children live in
> poverty.
>
> “The cops are recruited and trained to police this social divide, and
> large
> numbers see themselves, with good reason, as an occupying force in
> working
> class communities. Their typical attitude toward the workers and youth
> in
> their midst is a combination of fear, ignorance, hostility and
> indifference.
> From here it is not a big step to the panic that led the killers of
> Amadou
> Diallo to empty dozens of bullets into an innocent man...”
>
> In the two years since these lines were written, the social divide in
> New York has only grown larger. According to a recent report in the 
> New York
> Times, the city’s 280,000 financial employees saw their incomes—in
> just
> three years—rise ! from an average of about $5,000 a week to over
> $8,000,
> a
> figure that accounts for more than half the total wages paid in
> Manhattan.
>
> The killing of Sean Bell has sparked outrage throughout the city. On
> Sunday
> hundreds attended a vigil and rally in Queens to protest the shootings.
> The
> New York Post quoted Denise Ford, Bell’s mother, as saying,
> “Something
> needs
> to be done about them. They do things and get away with it. It’s not
> right
> or fair to us. Something needs to be done and I’m going to start.”
> Another
> protest is planned in front of police headquarters on December 6.
>
> Republican billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg phoned Democratic Party
> notables, including US Representative Charles Rangel and former mayor
> David
> Dinkins, from his vacation house in Bermuda following the shootings,
> undoubtedly to ask them to control the situation, and in a show of
> concern
> meant to distinguish himself from his predecessor Guiliani.
>
> The Rev. Al Sharpton, typically, held two press conferences in front of
> the
> hospital where the victims had been taken, but said nothing about the
> social
> causes of this crime, which would require raising the responsibility of
> the
> Democratic Party, of which he is a leading member.
>
> Bloomberg addressed a news conference Monday afternoon at City Hall
> following a meeting with elected officials and religious leaders from
> the
> area where the three men lived. Stopping short of placing blame, the
> mayor
> described the events surrounding the shooting as “unacceptable,”
> “inexplicable” and “deeply disturbing.”
>
> While describing the three men as “victims” and stating, “It
> sounds to
> me
> like excessive force was used” against them, Bloomberg expressed
> confidence
> in Commissioner Kelly and said he expected the police chief to keep his
> job
> for the rest of his mayoral term.
>
> The Post did its best to depict the victims as criminals, referring to
> sealed juvenile records. Its web site posted an advertising banner for
> police recruitment above an article on the killing. The Daily News gave
> empty tributes to the groom who had been gunned down on his wedding
> day,
> exploiting the grief of his bride and family. The New York Times
> offered an
> explanation of “contagious shooting” by policemen. The police, by
> this
> reasoning, are scared too.
>
> Describing the behavior of the police as if taking place in a vacuum,
> the
> media and political establishment make no reference to the social
> crisis in
> the city. Yet disregard for human life, fear, suspicion and contempt
> mingled
> together on Saturday morning because the police force encounters an
> increasingly impoverished and angry population.
>
>  
> World Socialist Web Site
>  
>  
>  
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 7974 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.hampshire.edu/pipermail/antiracism/attachments/20061129/6391f0e8/attachment.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.hampshire.edu/pipermail/antiracism/attachments/20061129/6391f0e8/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------

>
> Want to start your own business? Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.
> __._,_.___
> Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic
> Messages | Links
>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 595 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.hampshire.edu/pipermail/antiracism/attachments/20061129/6391f0e8/attachment-0001.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.hampshire.edu/pipermail/antiracism/attachments/20061129/6391f0e8/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------

> Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
> Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch 
> format to Traditional
> Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
> Visit Your Group
> SPONSORED LINKS
> • 	Aasp
> • 	Travel study
>
> Yahoo! Photos
>
> Easy Upload
>
> Share photos now
>
> Y! GeoCities
>
> Create a Web Site
>
> Easy-to-use tools.
>
> Get started now.
>
> Yahoo! Groups
>
> Start a group
>
> in 3 easy steps.
>
> Connect with others.
>
> .
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 1223 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.hampshire.edu/pipermail/antiracism/attachments/20061129/6391f0e8/attachment-0002.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.hampshire.edu/pipermail/antiracism/attachments/20061129/6391f0e8/attachment-0002.htm>
-------------- next part --------------

> __,_._,___
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 31 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.hampshire.edu/pipermail/antiracism/attachments/20061129/6391f0e8/attachment-0003.bin>