Stories related to: police brutality

New York City police arrested the Rev. Al Sharpton and the fiancée and mother of Sean Bell today during protests over the April 25 acquittal of three officers who shot Bell to death in a 50-bullet barrage. Hundreds blocked traffic at the Brooklyn Bridge and other city hot spots, the New York Post reports. Dozens were arrested, including two of Bell's friends who survived the 2006 shooting. More »

A TV news helicopter has filmed six Philadelphia police officers repeatedly kicking and punching three suspects pulled from a car. The city's police commissioner said it "does not look good," but emphasized that the department "won't rush to judgment." Philly cops have been on edge since an officer was shot dead during a robbery on Saturday, he said, and one suspect is still being hunted. More »

Sean Bell’s fiancé spoke out today, condemning the court for acquitting the men who shot her husband. “The justice system let me down,” Nicole Paultre Bell said. “April 25, 2008: They killed Sean all over again.” In her first public comments since yesterday’s verdict, Paultre Bell vowed to fight for another decision in the case, while Al Sharpton threatened to “shut the city down.” More »

A New York judge yesterday cleared the detectives who fatally shot Sean Bell, but the NYPD is awaiting its own verdict, after the case provoked charges of shoddy undercover police work. The shooting “revealed significant deficiencies in supervision, tactical planning, communications and management accountability,” said the Queens district attorney. The case’s chief prosecutor added, “This was a slipshod operation.” More »

Rev. Al Sharpton blasted today's acquittal of three NYPD officers who killed an unarmed man in a 50-slug fusillade in 2006, CNN reports. "Justice didn't miscarry," Sharpton said. "This was an abortion of justice. Justice was aborted." Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged citizens to respect the “authority” of the court; meanwhile, the Justice Department is considering civil-rights charges, Reuters reports. More »

A judge today acquitted three detectives who killed an unarmed New York City man in a hail of 50 bullets hours before his wedding in November 2006, the New York Times reports. The judge cited problems with witnesses' testimony in the killing of Sean Bell and a lack of sufficient evidence. Roughly 150 Bell supporters had gathered inside and outside the courtroom, including fiancée Nicole Paultre-Bell, who ran from the courtroom when the verdict was read, and the Rev. Al Sharpton. More »

A Florida man died yesterday after Broward County deputies Tased him for being "naked and belligerent" in public, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports. Paramedics said James Garland, 41, was too violent to treat after being zapped, so deputies drove him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Family members say they may file suit against the sheriff's office. More »

The city of Chicago has agreed to pay almost $20 million to settle lawsuits by four black men who alleged they were tortured into false confessions by police, the New York Times reports. The settlement with the former death row inmates, pardoned in 2003, "speaks volumes about the seriousness of the systematic torture, abuse, and cover-up that went on in the city of Chicago for decades,” said one lawyer. More »

Rodney King, whose videotaped beating by police officers in 1991 led to the LA riots, is recovering from minor wounds after being sprayed with birdshot while on his bicycle, the Los Angeles Times reports. King told police that two people demanded his bike at a street corner in San Bernardino, Calif., then shot at him when he rode away. More »