Speak Out
Sean Bell
by Jamell Scott, SUNY Cortland, May 3, 2008
Do they protect us or do they hurt us? Do we feel safe when they’re around or are we afraid? I’m talking about the cops. I’m talking about how the cops shot and killed an innocent man coming out of a strip club getting ready for his wedding day. I’m talking about Sean Bell, a 23-year-old African American male that was coming out of a strip club on the night of November 25, 2006 in New York City. He and two other friends were having a good time when they got into their gray Nissan Altima. Sean Bell drove about half a block before hitting an unmarked police van with five officers in it. He tried to back up, but he hit a store gate; the officers got out of the van and “claimed” Mr. Bell reached for a gun so they opened fire. Bullets flew into stores, apartment buildings, and other cars; two of the officers were hit by their own partners. One officer fired 31 times, another 11, and the other 4 fired 4 to 5 times each. The officer that shot 31 times emptie his clip reloaded and emptied it again.
I feel like after all of these clues and facts something should be done to these officers. There is no reason to shoot a man 50 times and come to find out; he didn’t even have a weapon. Some say he was gunned down like that because he was a young African American male; most people feel like young African American males pose harm in the world today. I don’t agree with the officers' actions at alI; feel like being a cop is very hard yes, but to shoot a man 50 times is what we call “being trigger happy”.
It's times like these that make the young black man feel scared around the police. I feel like a lot of the cops on the force fear young black men. Granted the jail cells hold a majority of black males; that doesn’t mean all black men are up to no good. Sean Bell was a black man that was having a good time with a few friends before stepping over the hump and changing his life. Before he could even get married he was not just shot, but I feel like he was murdered.
The officers involved in the shooting were acquitted by a judge in Queens on April 26, 2008. They said there was not enough evidence to convict the officer that was involved in the killing of Sean Bell. The people around New York did not take this news very well; when I found out about the verdict I was shocked. First Amadou Diallo, now Sean Bell: what are we supposed to do if the police officers are killing the wrong men? I honestly don’t feel safe around police officers because most of the police officers in my city abuse their power.
I have been a victim of police brutality; I was playing around with a few friend s and some police officers came up to us and started cursing and being rude. We didn’t do anything to trigger them off, they just started beating us up so we took off running; one of my friends was caught and beaten badly by the cops. Later on he was arrested and now he has three years probation for getting beaten up. That’s why I don’t feel safe around cops. I feel like justice has to be served or else things like Sean Bell and Amadou Diallo will go on forever.
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