This is a very sad day for those of us who hold the rule of law dear. In a bureaucratic legal maneuver, the decision was made to protect cops, even when their behavior has been murderous. How can this be? When cops become lawless, no one is safe in New York City.
IN THE MURDER OF SEAN BELL
Queens DA's Office, 125-01 Queens Blvd.
(between Hoover Ave and 82nd Ave.)
Once again the justice system has failed to protect the rights of people of color. A message is once more sent that law enforcement officers can act with impunity. Sean Bell joins a tragic list of those victimized by police, who have been denied justice. The names sound through history like drumbeats in a funeral procession: Amadou Diallo, Patrick Dorismond, Eleanor Bumpers, Alberta Spruill, Ousmane Zongo, and on and on and on.
Meanwhile, racism is seeping through the presidential selection process like a poisonous stain. The two phenomena, the police acquittal in our city and the insidious reluctance to believe that a Black man is "ready" for the White House, are related. The readiness to commit violence against people of the Mid East is not unconnected to the disregard for the lives of people of color here and across our country.
As United for Peace and JUSTICE, we must always respond to injustice. We must affirm that all human life is worthy, that injustice must always be confronted. That is why we urge everyone who can to come out to the protest rally today.
