Protestors Block Traffic and Are Arrested in New York City
Hundreds demonstrate against the not guilty verdict in the Sean Bell trial
By Cynthia Gordy

nicole bell al sharpton
Credit: AP Images

Nicole Paultre Bell, the fiancée of slain police-shooting victim Sean Bell, was arrested for disorderly conduct earlier this week during a protest demonstration in New York City, along with the Reverend Al Sharpton and hundreds of others. The protesters, who assembled peacefully at six different locations across the city, blocked entry to major bridges and tunnels, bringing afternoon traffic to a standstill. Roughly 200 people were arrested in total.

Sharpton and his National Action Network organized the protests in response to the recent acquittal of three New York police detectives in the 2006 shooting of Bell. Dubbing the event a pray-in, many participants kneeled and prayed, while others expressed outrage at the verdict with chants and picket signs saying, “We Are All Sean Bell. The Whole Damn System Is Guilty!” The National Action Network has said that the protests were the first of several planned demonstrations of civil disobedience intended to shut down the city until federal authorities investigate the shooting. Sharpton and relatives of Bell planned to meet with New York Governor David Paterson on Thursday to discuss the case.

“It’s going to be a long struggle,” Sharpton said at a Harlem rally days before the protest. “But the race isn’t given to the swift or the strong, but to those who endure.”

Tell Us: Were the protests an effective way to ensure that there will be federal investigation of the case?



Read the judge's complete statement »

RELATED LINKS:

Our candid interview with Nicole Bell on the verdict »

Read our eyewitness account live from the courtroom »

PHOTOS: Exclusive pictures of Sean and Nicole Bell »

PHOTOS: The Community's Response »





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-5 latest comments

THIS IS TO ELAINA: SINCE YOU DON'T MOURN SEAN BELL STILL DOES NOT GIVE THE NEW YORK POLICE TO MURDER HIM. SO WHAT IF HE WAS ARRESTED BEFORE.

-LADYCHIEF

Elaina -

The criminal records of the men who were unlawfully targeted do not matter when it comes to life or death.

So I guess if they're records were clean, then it wouldn't be justified for the cops to shoot at them and kill Sean Bell?

Remember theywere not armed.

It's a sad day in the Black community and the country when people would rather point out the transgressions and weaknesses of victims than stand up to a system that is clearly flawed.

-Cal alum

I use to be a New City Police Officer and that department Stands by it on even when you do wrong ONCE YOU PASS PROBATION. I think its unfair that those man got a way with murder of Sean Bell. For me they fired me and told me that I shouldn't have been receiving food stamps to feed my family. The system is not set up for us meaning MINORITY. But it is up to us to teach one and reach one. Stop learning the lyrics to these raps song learn your rights to be free. Knowledge is knowing and knowing is POWER.

-NOT GULITY AKA STAR

I am so sick and tired of people only looking at one side of this matter. No one is talking about how Sean Bell was arrested three times: twice for drugs, and once for gun possession.

No one is talking about how Joseph Guzman was arrested for selling drugs outside of a school, or how Trent Benefield got on the stand and said that he has smoked marijuana everyday since he was 16 years old.

No one is talking about how Sean Bell was legally blind in one eye, and how he was driving drunk.

I do not mourn Sean Bell, and I

-Elaina

I was one of the many people who decided to stand up for justice and get arrested. I'm sick and tired of watching things like this happen over and over again. I will not feel powerless. I did it for all of our brothers. I just hope the momentum continues. This is a new movement and we all need to be apart of it. It can't be business as usual anymore. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.-Martin Luther King

-Tiffany W., Brooklyn, NY