From Mumia Abu-Jamal on death row
Sean Bell’s second slaying
Published May 15, 2008 9:39 PM
Taken from an April 25 audio column. Go to www.prisonradio.org to hear
Mumia’s column and www.millions4mumia.org to read updates on the campaign to free him.
It was a classic “only in America” moment. The bench trial of
three killer cops in New York City, charged with firing some 50 shots into a
car, killing one man, Sean Bell, and wounding two others—all unarmed.
The case rushed across America, spreading outrage in each city.
Initially, the cops moved to have the trial transferred to a site
upstate—to the rural, northern tiers. This motion denied, they opted for
a bench trial (or trial by a single judge), not trusting their fates to a
so-called jury of “citizens” they are sworn to serve and
protect.
Time, it seems, has proven that they made the right decision—for,
predictably, the judge acquitted them of all charges, arguing that the
witnesses gave conflicting testimony.
By so doing, the court essentially ruled that Bell’s killing was
justified; no crime was committed. The defense utilized the “bad
company” argument—that Bell was shot and killed because he was
among “the wrong crowd.”
That such an argument swayed Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman (in New
York state, unlike most other states, the trial court is termed the Supreme
Court, and the state’s highest court is their Court of Appeals) is a
measure of how devalued Black life is, and how easy Black men are to demonize
and disparage.
If none of the cops knew the men, what does it matter what their backgrounds
were? They could’ve been lawyers, basketball stars or cops.
That they were Black men—even unarmed Black men—was deemed
sufficient to unload on them, because in America, their color was crime
enough.
So, 22-year-old Sean Bell joins Amadou Diallo and others guilty of the capital
offense of WWB—Walking While Black.
And while millions of Black and white Americans thrill at political illusions
of “post-racialism,” Sean Bell’s case proves how deeply
deadly race can still be.
Even rumors of a weapon were enough to unleash 50 shots—or should we say
“alleged rumors” for there were no guns found in Bell’s car.
In the past, wallets, candy bars, keys and packs of cigarettes were deemed
sufficient to provoke such malicious responses. Now, nothing is required. Sean
Bell was shot to death and his friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, were
seriously wounded. Shot and killed for being with “the wrong
crowd.”
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