NYC Latinos Stand Up By Sitting In for Sean Bell
10:54 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism| Justice| New York City
20 Mar 2007
All to often in the mainstream media, the issue of police brutality is painted as a black and white issue when in reality it is an issue impacting all people of color. The most recent highly publicized police killing of Sean Bell in Queens, NYC last November has long time police brutality activists and communities of color across the city organizing and calling out a pattern and practice of racially based police killings.
The recent indictments against three of the five officers who fired 50 shots at Bell on the eve of his wedding have left some in the Latino community justifiably unsatisfied. Some showed their dissatisfaction by committing and act of civil disobedience by blocking the entrance to the Queens Criminal Court in Kew Gardens.
Vicente Panamá Alba, Camila Gelpi Acosta y Rafael Pérez shouted “No Justice, No Peace” in front of the court house before being arrested on charges of disorderly conduct.
“El propósito es denunciar la injusticia que se está cometiendo, porque esto no fue un homicidio sino un asesinato”, dijo Acosta. Además agregó que si hubiera sido al contrario, que si un policía hubiera muerto, el acusado ya estaría sin ningún cuestionamiento en la cárcel pagando por un asesinato.Para Pérez, los cargos impuestos son un recordatorio de cómo la comunidad minoritaria está viviendo acosada por la policía. “Lo estamos viviendo y la policía está tomando la justicia en sus mano. Ellos están supuestos a reguardar la comunidad y eso es lo que menos están haciendo”, agregó.
Latinos in Queens have been the victim of police brutality and abuse. Jose Librado Sanchez was killed by undercover police in 1997 while he worked and Manuel Mayi Jr was beaten to death by a racist gang protected by the police.
Via / El Diario/La Prensa
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4 Responses to NYC Latinos Stand Up By Sitting In for Sean Bell
Erwin C.
March 20th, 2007 at 11:53 am
Don’t forget Anthony Baez (though his death was in the Bronx, not Queens).
The facts in the Sean Bell case are not clear cut though one hopes that the eventual trial will bring about true justice. (Yeah, maybe that sounds too idealistic but hopefully that will be the case.
My heart goes out to Bell’s fiancee and family.
RIcardo
March 20th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
What is the problem with NYC cops? Is it that the majority (no todos!) are so unprofessional or is it the fact that a job that pays 25G’s a year attracts the former mentioned who cant work anywhere else, and get to have gun and badge to boot. Pay the police more and we wont have these problems.
Mike
March 20th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
If you were a police officer you wouldn’t be asking that question. Try putting a bullseye on your chest (a badge) every day and see how people treat you like shit. Minorities especially have absolutely no respect for the police. They think they know the law so they confront the officers and interfere with the job that they are trying to perform. The end result is that they get taken down and handcuffed. All of a sudden it’s police brutality. I applaud and man or woman who is willing to put their lives on the line to protect erfect strangers. I’ve seen it from the inside and it’s rarely the police who are at fault.
Maegan la Mala
March 20th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
Erwin – The Baez case is exactly what people are thinking about now (I worked with the Baez family back when it happened) The DA indicted the officer and then the indictment was thrown out and Anthony Baez’s mother had to sit in the DA’s office to get another indictment. In the end Livoti ended up in jail on federal civil rights violations charges not because he killed Baez.
The problem with the NYPD is nothing new. It’s been well documented that there is a culture of racism and police brutality (take the mollen commission for example).
I would argue that its not the cops that have the bullseye on them, its the people of color, mostly young men who overwhelmingly are the ones getting brutalized and killed (not to mention the daily harassment)