Mayor mobilizes 1,000 cops against community

Judge Arthur Cooperman has said he will announce a verdict on April 25 in the Queens, N.Y., trial of the three cops who shot and killed Sean Bell outside of a Club Kalua in Jamaica, N.Y., on his wedding day in November 2006.

A New York City coalition, Peoples Justice for Community Control and Police Accountability, is calling for a rally and community speak-out on April 25 in front of the Queens district attorney’s office in solidarity with the Bell family.

Bell’s aunt, Oniaya Shepherd, told WW, “We will never get him back. They can’t bring Sean back. All my sister and our family want is justice for Sean.”

Like the cop killing of West African immigrant Amadou Diallo in 1999, the 23-year-old Bell’s death was also in a hail of bullets, 50 in his case. The gunfire also seriously injured Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman, two of Bell’s friends.

A Queens grand jury indicted the three detectives on March 16, 2007. Detectives Michael Oliver and Gescard F. Isnora were charged with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter, Detective Marc Cooper with reckless endangerment. All three have pled not guilty and chose to have a judge, rather than a jury, decide the verdict. The trial began on Feb. 25.

Attempting to vilify Bell and justify the killing, the police claimed Bell and his friends had a gun and had even tried to run down the cops with his car. Fifty witnesses, including Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman, testified otherwise for the prosecution.

As the verdict approaches, it has become apparent that Mayor Bloomberg and the New York Police Department are nervous about the community’s reaction. According to the April 7 Queens news service, the Times Ledger, Mayor Michael Bloomberg met with Southeast Queens’ politicians, religious and community leaders “urging for peace.”

Days later the New York Post, which has carried out a pro-cop campaign, reported on April 14, “The NYPD will flood Queens with 1,000 extra cops the moment a judge issues the Sean Bell trial verdict, as part of a plan to maintain order and prevent possible protest riots.”

Jamaica is part of Queens’ southeast section, whose residents are 55 percent either African-American or Caribbean. From the moment the shooting happened and throughout the trial, the inherent racism of this case has been evident. Bloomberg plans to increase police presence in several Southeast Queens neighborhoods, including near the site of the shooting and along major streets such as Roosevelt Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevard as well as at the 103rd NYPD precinct, where the Bell family has held monthly candlelight vigils.

Although the Bell family has insisted that they too want “peace and calm” after the verdict, the mayor and NYPD continue to plan this assault on the Black community.

“They are talking about having sharpshooters on rooftops,” said Shepherd. “Do not label the African-American community as violent. Do not treat us like animals.”

Even the two-week delay and scheduling of the verdict date for April 25 was orchestrated to avoid conflict with Pope Benedict XVI’s New York visit. With the pope gone, the NYPD are freed up to mobilize a full-scale occupation of Southeast Queens.

Shepherd talked about the impact that Bell’s killing has had on her family. “All we want is for the trial to be over. We have not had a restful night of sleep since November. But we will never forget Sean, and we don’t want any more families to go through what we have been through.”

A broad coalition of groups has endorsed the call to come out in support of the Bell family at 5:30 p.m. on April 25 in front of the Queens DA’s Office, 125-01 Queens Blvd., whether or not Judge Cooperman delays his verdict. E or F train to Union Turnpike stop. For more information: myspace.com/peoplesjustice.