Why was Sean Bell killed with 50 shots by policemen?

wuvmonki

It was believed that the cops we possibly intoxicated on the job but were too late in obtaining proof. A group of noisy happy black men can't gather without cops thinking they are in a gang.

And as to ducatigirlsam question if this would be an issue if they were white... well we would first have to have someone unarmed & white be shot fifty or more times to answer that correctly. Since it never has or ever will happen because white people get the benefit of the doubt it is an unfair question.

And even though a couple of the officers were of color it does not rule out racial profiling. Racist ideas do infect people of their own race, especially if you are bombarded with these ideas about your own people everyday. People come to believe that these racist or rather stereotyped ideas are all true therefore using them against their better judgment.

EDIT: To ducatigirlsam, I never said that white people do not get shot by the police, they just do not get shot up fifty or more times when they are unarmed. Besides, we are speaking of the US, not the UK. I can honestly say I don't know they way things work there. And unless you've lived here and and watched the police mistaking shoot a young black girl shot 30 times while is she is having an epileptic fit in her car or a had a young black latino boy beaten to death in front of your eyes because he was playing street football and the ball hit an officers car or the many other of the many miscarriages of injustice you can't really know. I am not misinformed. I live within this life. The news is not the only reality nor is it always the truth.

jeeper_peeper321

Hmmmm, Sean Bell was Black.

The first officer to shoot at him was Black.

Of the 5 officers, 2 were black, one was black/hispanic, one middle eastern and one was white.

Your gonna have a hard time showing racism played any role.

Avondrow

That's all the ammunition they had?

Jack

Hmmm why is it racism just because he was Black?
When a Black guy kills a White guy, its murder.
Otherway around, its a raciest murder. Why?

Maybe they just Murdered him. End of.

mebe1042

So are you asking a question or trying to pick a fight?

If you must know why so many shots were fired it's called an "Ecclectic response". If one Officer starts to shoot others will and because of the stress levels in these situations being so high, most will empty their weapon. Which between five Officers, and the NYPD limits their Officers to 10 round mags is about right.

And BTW, the other person who pointed out the racial make-up of the group of Officers was correct.

Sorry, try again.

Dog Lover

Because 49 was not enough and 51 would have been too many.

Ah, one more troll to add to my block user list.

Zee HatMan

Because 49 shots just wasn't enough?
They used the wrong ammunition?
Their aim was substandard?
They can't count?
Who cares?

alexthefett

I think that it is a tragedy that it happened, but for anyone to Monday morning quarter back what happened is not fair.
hindsight is 20/20 right?

I wouldn't call it racism either

guess

It shows that those police officers were racist. Not all of the police in the entire country.

Laughing Out Loud

ducatigirlsam is 'making general assumptions on racism rather than knowing the facts' as she puts it. Racism is wroo
ng in all contexts and needs to stop FULL STOP

wuxxler

'Cause 49 wasn't enough.

.. .this can't be good

Poor judgment on the part of the officer's involved. I really don't think his or their color made the difference. I think it was the neighborhood and they panicked. They blew it and cost a man his life. And the state of New York is not going to accept responsibility.

NONAME

You're ignorant. If you'd done some research you'd have found out that not all of the cops who shot him were white. You probably can't read though, and that's why you're showing pictures.

malibugirl

What so if they killed a white person with 50 shots then would you still be asking this question? Get real, they are policemen, can you prove they were racist just cos it was a black person they shot, and they over used their ammunition? They did what they had to do at the time, in a split second, could you make that decision?

Yes I do watch the news even though I am in the UK not the USA. It happens a lot, it happens in the UK aswell. Police marksmen do not fire unless they have reason to believe they should, have you not heard the saying "no smoke without fire"?. I am not saying that they are always right when they do this, but implying that they did it just because he was black is a mistake that too many people are making these days. Police in the UK are even told to try and limit the number of arrests of coloured / ethnic minorities so that they cannot be accused of arresting people just because of their colour! This is due to people making general assumptions on racism rather than knowing the facts.

Edit:- To wuvmonki - It happens in the UK too you know, and it has happened in the UK to white people also. Unfortunately as someone else mentioned, when it happens to a white person nobody seems to give a damn about it and it goes virtually un-noticed and is quickly forgotten, however, when it happens to a black person / ethnic minority then it is apparently clearly a racist attack that happened for no other reason than to p*ss all ethnic persons off! Do you honestly really think that the majority of policemen risk their jobs and future for that? - I think you need to watch the news more often, lol - It has never happened and never will to a white person? Get real and get your facts straight before you make such silly comments!

Edit:- Laughing out Loud - You are the one making assumptions that I am racist! I have never once implied that I agree with what happened, I have only said that it happens to whites too and that I doubt this happened JUST because the person was black. I do not condone racism, never have, but unfortunately if you have an opinion on here and someone disagrees with you then you are labelled as a racist. If in that case you are making the assumption that I am racist then you are very wrong. I suggest you read my post again and point out the part where I actually imply that I condone racism! By the way, racism is also actually comments against whites and other colours aswell, but that seems to go un noticed on this forum.

Edit:- Wuvmonki - It was your comment of "has never happened and NEVER will happen" that got me. It was an assumption you cannot realistically make. White people will get mistakingly shot in the UK or US as will black people, but you cannot assume that a black person getting shot whether once or 50 times is a racist attack, when a white person can be shot once or 50 times by a black cop and that would not be classed as a racist attack. It has to work both ways. There are far too many unneccessary racist comments on here as it is. I can only speak for experience as my partner is a police office in the UK and to be honest, I see the dangerous job they do and they take a hell of a lot of sh*t and get very little reward for what they do.

lithium630

Were the black and hispanic cops that shot him racist? People need to grow up and stop screaming racism every time the wind blows. It detracts from the legitimate incidents.

yaboo

Think your right .To put 50 shots into someone seems like someone of unbalanced mind would do that...Brutal unnecessary and without knowing details a racist with some personal grudge,who lost it..

zooma

IHmmmmmmmm, its funny, you said jeepers lied.

But he quoted directly from the link you gave.

So are you saying the link you gave in your question is a lie ?

Because this is exactly what it says.

" While many have claimed that the shooting was racially motivated, two of the five officers involved were black, one was white, one was Middle-Eastern, and one was of biracial black and Hispanic origin (Haitian/Mexican). The first officer to fire was black."

So you can call people liers all you want to,

That doesn't change the truth.

Maybe you are the racist, since your making facts up as you go.

old fuzz

Sean was not hit by 50 shots. Most of those missed.

Jeffery C

Would 49 shots have been enough or would you have considered that many excessive too?

By what experience or knowledge do you judge the "perfect" number of shots to be in a particular situation? Have you ever been in a fire fight? Have you ever shot ANYTHING (including a deer)? Or are you merely commenting based on the old cowboy movies?

PackLeader22

It's called black on black crime it you believe the cops went out to intentionally kill Sean Bell that night. Black cops shot a black man. Of the officers on scene, only one was white; the others were Black and Hispanic. I suggest you get your facts straight before playing the O.J. card here.

TURANDOT

Racist, impulsive, and irrational.

Shows you why more and more towns are investing in cameras for their cruisers

felix

because everyone knows the US are cr*p shots unless UK soldiers are in the vicinity, then for some reason, your kill rate goes up.

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