Last week, a judge acquitted three NYPD officers of all charges, including manslaughter, after they fired 50 shots into three unarmed men on a November night in 2006. The only fatal victim, Sean Bell, was to be married within hours.

The three undercover police officers who stood trial included detective Michael Oliver, who fired 31 shots and is white, and Gescard Isnora, who fired 11 shots, and Marc Cooper, who fired 4 shots. The latter two officers are both black.

Since Judge Arthur Cooperman exonerated the three officers in a bench trial on April 25th, many critics have claimed racial injustice since Bell was black. Others, however, have pointed out the prosecution’s presentation of the case, citing the fact that the state’s lawyers read the defendants’ grand jury testimony into evidence, basically allowing the defendants’ versions of the story to be heard without any of the officers having to face cross-examination.

The weekend after the trial, the city saw several marches and peaceful demonstrations against the verdict. Yesterday, New York Governor David Patterson said that he was “surprised” by the verdict, and Michael Bloomberg, the city’s mayor issued a statement saying that “No verdict could ever end the grief that those who knew and loved Sean Bell suffer. Judge Cooperman's responsibility, however, was to decide the case based on the evidence presented in the courtroom. America is a nation of laws, and though not everyone will agree with the verdicts and opinions issued by the courts, we accept their authority.” The Mayor also went on to state that “All of us have a responsibility to improve our neighborhoods and our City, and we can only do that by working together, respecting each other, and doing everything possible to prevent future tragedies and injustices.”

Peaceful demonstrations continue tonight in New York where there will be an indoor speakout in Queens at the Theodore Jackson Adult Center and a town hall meeting in Brooklyn at Brown Memorial Baptist Church.

Town Hall Meeting @ 6:30pm, April / 29th Brown Memorial Baptist Church / 484 Washington Ave. @ Gates Ave. / Fort Greene/Clinton Hill, Brooklyn

Indoor Speakout @ 6:30pm, April 29th / Theodore Jackson Adult Center / 92-47 165th St at Archer Avenue / Jamaica, NY

-by Jonathan Mason