Well, Al Sharpton’s hate mongering wins again. If you remember the original story, you will recall that NYPD cops shot Bell outside a strip club during his bachelor party. Tragic, to be sure. But the precedent we set by prosecuting cops for murder (even if they make a mistake) is far, far worse. Here is what bothers me:
FACT: The cops were at that night club because it was a haven for illegal guns.
FACT: Mr. Bell and every one of his companions had priors for illegal weapons possession. One of them was a robber who had shot at a victim. I guess the objective folks at the New York Times “forgot” that part of the story.
FACT: The van they were in almost ran over a cop and then rammed the cops’ minivan. Twice.
FACT: If Mr. Bell was White, then Al Sharpton would not have adopted his cause and FORCED this murder trial. If he was White, you would not even know his name right now. Same circumstances, same story, NO murder trial.
I keep looking for Mr. “reverend” Sharpton at the cops’ funerals when they are killed. I haven’t seen him at a single one. Where is the outrage for that violence? For that matter, where is he when his own constituents are killing each other (which they do with greater regularity than all the police shootings in the nation combined!). I guess he is too busy for outrage then.
I hope the jury will remember the US Supreme Court’s warning that we cannot judge the actions of police officers using hindsight. Those cops thought he had a gun. They were wrong and that is horrific. But it is not even close to murder.
