It’s nearing 20 years since the tragic police shooting of Sean Bell, the 23-year-old father, and husband-to-be, who was violently shot by police the day before his wedding.
Bell and two of his close friends were leaving a Queens strip club where they went to celebrate his bachelor party when they were shot a total of 50 times by five uniformed and plainclothes undercover officers with the New York Police Department, the Amsterdam News reports.
While Bell’s two friends survived, Bell was struck in the neck and arm and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. His friend, Joseph Guzman, was left in critical condition after being hit 11 times and Tent Benefield, arrived in stable condition.
When Guzman and Benefield arrived at the hospital, they were shackled to their beds. None of the three men had a firearm despite police claiming they heard one of them make mention of a gun.
The shooting took place after Guzman got into an argument with another male outside Club Kalua, a club that was reportedly housing a prostitution ring. During the altercation, Guzman reportedly made mention of a gun, which prompted Officer Gescard Isnora to let him know that he was an officer, Black Past reports.
However, Isnora assumed one of the three men was reaching for a gun and started firing into Bell’s car. Other officers joined and fired 50 rounds into the vehicle, killing Bell.
The tragic murder sparked outcry across the city with many demanding justice for Sean Bell at a time when social media wasn’t anywhere near where it is today. The shooting was likened to the police shooting of Amadou Diallo in 1999.
Al Sharpton and other activists protested in the streets and outside police headquarters in hopes of seeing the officers stripped of their titles and arrested for the murder. Three of the five officers were indicted on March 16, 2007.
Isnora who fired the first shot and Officer Michael Oliver, who fired
31 of the 50 shots, were both charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter, second-degree careless endangerment, and first- and second-degree assault. Detective Marc Cooper was charged with two counts of reckless endangerment. All three detectives pleaded not guilty.In April 2008, all three officers were acquitted of all charges. Bell left behind his fiancee and two daughters, Jada and Jordyn. In November 2019, 13 years after his murder, his fiancee Nicole Paultre-Bell spoke against the acquittal of the officers.
“Thirteen years after Sean’s death the pain hasn’t subsided and I’m still seeking solace following so many unanswered questions about a criminal justice system that failed our daughters and took away their father,” Bell said.
“With the negligence, the assault, the civil rights violations, and the egregious misconduct all pointing to guilt, the police officers are still acquitted.”
Sean Bell’s death remains one of the many instances
and examples of the brutal police brutality that runs rampant in a country deep-rooted in racism and criminal injustice.In 2011, the Sean Bell Community Center was opened in Jamaica Queens, NY Daily News reports. The center offers mentoring, GED and tutoring programs for children and adolescents, as well as job-training referral programs for adults, via NBC NY.
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