Outrage against police brutality comes to Wall Street
By
Monica Moorehead
New York
Published Dec 21, 2006 10:58 PM
Many photos of Sean Bell were carried on Dec. 21.
WW photos: Monica Moorehead
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Close to 1,000 people descended on the Wall Street area on Dec. 21 at noon for
a militant march against racist brutality by the New York Police Department.
The protest was sparked by the shooting death of unarmed 23-year-old African
American Sean Bell by the NYPD a month earlier on the same day his wedding was
to take place. Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman were wounded when the police
shot 50 bullets into a car driven by Bell after the three left a bachelor party
for Bell in the borough of Queens.
The demonstration, overwhelmingly composed of African Americans, was
organized by the December 12 Movement and the Black Men’s Movement.
Latin@s Asians and
Front banner for the Dec. 21 march.
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whites also came out on Dec. 21 in solidarity with the Black community’s
righteous anger over another unprovoked killing by the police. The crowd
included many young people.
Before the crowd stepped off from the Chase Building near the World Trade
Center, Amadi Ajamu from the Dec. 12 Movement led militant chants such as
“Black power,” “Power to the people,” “No
justice! No peace!” and many more. Roger Wareham from D12 and New
York City Councilperson Charles Barron spoke to the multitude of local and
national electronic and print media.
Charles Barron speaks on Wall Street Dec. 21.
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Wareham announced a march to the United Nations on Jan. 29 and a conference on
police brutality on Feb. 21, the anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X.
He also linked the unimaginable wealth controlled by Wall Street investors to
the oppression of Black people, including the fact that African slaves built
New York City and their ancestors have still been denied reparations. Wareham
also compared the racist occupation of the Black community by the NYPD to the
U.S. military occupation and war against the Iraqi people.
Youth brought spirit of fight back against police brutality Dec. 21.
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Throughout the almost three-hour demonstration, the crowd repeatedly counted
from one to 50 to signify how many shots the police had fired, riddling
Bell’s car.
The NYPD tried to intimidate the crowd. Police, some on horseback, were dressed
in riot gear, dangling plastic handcuffs from their belts. But to no avail.
Even though the large crowd had to wait a long time and then march through side
streets to get to the heart of Wall Street, they did not back down.
Once they had gathered near the steps of Federal Hall, where a statue of the
racist slaveholder George Washington stands, D12 leader Viola Plummer and
Barron fired up the protesters with speeches beseeching them to continue to
come out in the streets until Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly is fired.
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