Sharpton Arrested Leading NYC Protest

[OhioChick]

Source: Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc./AP

POSTED: 4:59 pm EDT May 7, 2008
UPDATED: 5:26 pm EDT May 7, 2008

The Rev. Al Sharpton has been arrested by New York City police as he led demonstrators at the Brooklyn Bridge in a march protesting the acquittal of three officers in the 50-bullet shooting of Sean Bell.

Sharpton, two survivors of the shooting and the slain man's fiancee were arrested.

Sharpton is seeking a federal civil rights investigation into Bell's 2006 shooting. Bell was killed in a hail of 50 police bullets outside a Queens strip club that was under investigation for prostitution. The officers charged in the slaying were acquitted in state court April 25.

Demonstrators were gathering at six locations, including outside police headquarters and the entrances to the Brooklyn and Triborough bridges and the Holland Tunnel.

Sharpton said some marchers planned to kneel in prayer and risk arrest.


Read more: http://www.newsnet5.com/news/16191802/detail.html

[NM Independent]

1. Way to go, Al

[leftofcool]

2. Good

of course he will be out of jail within the hour

[ToughLuck]

3. I really can't stand Sharpton, but on this I applaud him!!

[olddad56]

29. I'll betthat yo don't even know him.

[bossy22]

4. it doesnt say

why he was arrested

2 weeks ago up here in my college town 9 students were arrested in an anti-war protest because they shut down a major route- it was very inconsiderate to people (like me) who may have had somewhere to be...lets say a very competitive job interview, but luckily i got there in time because the police broke up the rally- if it had gone on i def. would have missed it and would not be in the running for the job now

if he was disrupting traffic im glad he got arrested and i hope he gets prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law to make an example out of him.

[Hannah Bell]

9. Yeah, we don't want to be inconvenienced.

[Arctic Dave]

10. Yes, I totally agree with you. You shouldn't be inconvenienced by

someone trying to end the occupation of Iraq. Would you like a back rub too?

[bossy22]

15. change happens

through the ballot box- the war in iraq is not going to end by you and 500 people standing in a middle of a road holding signs....its going to end by you and 500 people going out and voting...along with 100,000,000 americans.

[Arctic Dave]

23. Change happens through involvement. But

unless people are involved this will not happen. Some poeple need to be inconvienced to get their attention.

[reggie the dog]

11. disrupting traffic is the whole point

Protests involve disrupting peoples normal rountine to bring awareness about problems. We do that all the time over here. I did it quite often in the USA too.

How would you suggest protesting? Would you stay in a predesignated free speech zone?

Why not get out of you car and protest the war?

What is worse, making life inconvienent for people for a few hours or bombing the shit out of a country and killing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians?

[bossy22]

13. sorry i still don't by that

you screw over people's days...and sometimes lives...i know many ambulences, fire trucks, police cars that can't get to emergencies because people decide to be selfish and protest in the middle of the street

you want to protest, protest on a sidewalk, in front of a govt building, don't do it on a major roadway

its selfish, very selfish...people are not only inconvienced, people are hurt, people lose jobs, people die on the way to hospitols because of protests.

here is an example- a protest in my town a year ago prevented a firetruck from getting down the road for 10 min- luckily it was only a false alarm- what happns if it was a real fire with someone stuck in it...well that person would be dead...10 min is an eternity for 1st responders like myself

also the cops discovered the protestors in my college town after one officer was responding to a cardiac arrest and got stopped by a wall of 100 people....

I agree with protesting in general

[Arctic Dave]

26. The police had no idea their were 100 poeple protesting

and blocking traffic? Where do you live? My wife and I did a protest on the side of the road against toture and within 5 minutes we had three squad cars asking us questions. As for taking 10 minutes get get on scene of a fire I have to raise an eyebrow on that too. In five o'clock rush hour the fire department here can be on scene in less time. And I have never heard of police responding to a medical dispatch when that is the job of the ALS.

[bossy22]

27. the reason was

that the protest went from binghamton university property onto the road- at the same time the police car was comming from what i know

"And I have never heard of police responding to a medical dispatch when that is the job of the ALS."
different places have different SOG's. In nassau county, whenever the Police Department Ambulence service is called out (its an ALS service) 2 squad cars go with them.

[NOLALady]

14. What do you think should be done

about the officers who were acquitted of murdering an unarmed man?

Maybe you can contact Sean Bell's family and offer suggestions.

[bossy22]

17. well.....i really don't know

i havent studied the facts of this case really in depth, what i know is that the police shot at an unarmed man because they claimed he tried to run them over...but the victims claim that they were trying to get away because they didnt know that these people were cops

i won't pass judgement, from what it looks like it was a whole series of really freak occurances....

i don't just jump to convictions when i hear about a cop shooting an unarmed person...sometimes i can see why a cop would reasonably believe that his life was in danger- but i dont know if this case was one of those

im no judge or jury, i dont know what i would do

[superkia]

16. Typical American response, if it doesnt affect me and mine...

it isn't worth any sacrifice from me. Its sad that this is what the system has turned people into, its all about self, fuck everyone else! What people don't seem to realize is that, eventually...something will affect you and yours, will anyone be around to help you? History is going to repeat itself because we are too ignorant as a people to learn form the past, we have to have it hit us in the face when its too late before we care.


First They Came for the Jews

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
Pastor Martin Niemöller

[bossy22]

19. you are hurting your own arguement

"Its sad that this is what the system has turned people into, its all about self, fuck everyone else!"
well some people would say that the protestors were being selfish because they only cared about their issue- didn't care that there actions could harm others
this could be seen as especially true when the MAJORITY of people are angry at the protestors- as in the case in my college town

"it isn't worth any sacrifice from me"...don't even talk to me about sacrifices...but i won't go into that...im willing to sacrifice some of my time if there is a clear benefit- but there isnt....protests on the street won't do much in most cases- in many cases its more symbolic than anything

What people don't seem to realize is that, eventually...something will affect you and yours, will anyone be around to help you?
thats why i do the most important and influential thing i can do- I VOTE..and voting is how change gets accomplished...we will get out of iraq because we vote in people who want to get out, the city will investigate this case because the politicans will be in fear of their job-

your protests are like a fly buzzing around a human- its annoying, but really not important enough to do much about it

[superkia]

30. When we vote, it doesnt mean that we will get change, if you...

don't know yet, our political system is well, I will just say broken and leave it there. If you don't have a clue and don't care to educate yourself, you are just a part of the large group of enablers who have allowed our country to fall apart. The way things are already starting to change when it comes to peaceful protests, you wont have anything to worry about soon enough. There is no room for anyone who disagrees with our governments policies, they must me shut up and will be. At a minimum, you should at least educate yourself on whats happening in your own country and I don't mean by watching all of the 24 hour propaganda shows either.


Didn't they already pass something that states that if you or a group are doing something like peaceful protests and trying to affect the governments policies ( like the war ) you are classified a terrorist and an enemy of the state? So don't worry, you will have it your way soon enough and then you will run crying hoping that someone will help you or look for a group to protest with.


Police brutality isn't worth even a protest to you, just wait until its your family thats shot to death by 50 bullets and then maybe you will see reality. How about an illegal war for oil where young soldiers are dying or where a complete country is being destroyed, hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children being terrorized and slaughtered...still not enough to hold you up an hour is it? Probably not!

Obviously we are different people and luckily I don't have to be associated with you and your type, good luck to you and yours!

[Pastiche423]

20. I hope that job goes to someone else

Like someone w/principles.





Way to go, Al!

[Raineyb]

31. Damn those pesky protesters!

God forbid they should try to raise awareness. Why that protesting is un-American!



Regards

[fascisthunter]

5. I Applaud Him as Well

[wellst0nev0ter]

6. Difference Between Sharpton And His Critics

Sharpton is willing to be arrested for what he believes in.

His critics are comfortable sitting behind the cameras or computer terminals condemning him.

[flashl]

7. K&R

[SCBeeland]

8. If there's anyone who needs to be arrested

its the murderers that gunned down this unarmed man

[cyndensco]

12. No doubt!

[tnlefty]

22. Welcome to DU, SCBeeland!

[Megahurtz]

18. Those Trigger-Happy Cops that

murdered that man should have been arrested! And what the Hell is with the dumbass jury that acquitted them???

That goes to show ya, people are smart.

Good for Al Sharpton.



*On Edit*: So it was a Judge that acquitted them all by himself??? Gee, that's not suspicious or anything is it?
What a crock of shit!

[mcollier]

21. Thanks MegaHurtz for the link...

Its really time for the "THEY" To be "US".... Don'tcha Think?

I appreciate the many concerned people on DU.

[Megahurtz]

25. You are welcome!

[Jim Lane]

28. The policemen WERE arrested. That's why there was a trial.

Your original post wrongly blames a "dumbass jury". On edit, you note that the acquittal was by a judge. To answer your question, no, it's not "suspicious or anything". In New York, criminal defendants have the right to waive trial by jury. Defendants usually choose a jury trial, but a defendant who fears that he or she may be the victim of popular prejudice will sometimes prefer to go before a judge. That's their right. If you believe that our legal system goes too far in protecting the rights of the accused, I suggest you go on over to Free Republic and post a ringing denunciation. Don't forget to use the phrase "soft on crime".

[katty]

24. Go Al!