| Prayer Strike Against Police Brutality |
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This past Wednesday, May 7th, an estimated thousand people converged in different areas of New York City to make some long-awaited noise over the verdict in the Sean Bell case. In an attempt to bring the city to its knees, the protesters strategically gathered at six crucial intersections and dropped to their own knees in prayer.
According to police, about 216 people were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Among those arrested included the Rev. Al Sharpton, Nicole Paultre Bell (Bell's widow), and Bell's comrades who lived to tell the tale of the shooting, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield. Hazel Dukes, president of the New York State N.A.A.C.P., was also arrested, along with (we believe) City Councilman Charles Barron, who was featured in Issue #5 of Beyond Race. The protests seem to have been a success, for the fact that they gained a massive amount of media attention. They were also very well organized, and made a significant impact without the use of violence or bedlam.
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Some of these locations included the entrance to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge, the Harlem entrance to the Triborough Bridge, and the Brooklyn Bridge, where the largest demonstration (400 people) occurred - blocking traffic into Brooklyn for over an hour.