Rev. Al Sharpton

Sean Bell, 23, was killed in Queens on November 25, 2006 in a hail of at least 50 gunshots. The incident reportedly stemmed from an argument outside of a club in Queens where Bell was holding a bachelor party prior to his wedding to fiancée Nicole Paultre. Police were in the process of investigating Club Kalua for prostitution allegations when a domestic disturbance reportedly caused them to begin observing Bell and his friends.  

According to police, Bell was involved in a dispute outside the club involving a woman. One of Bell’s friends reportedly yelled “you, get my gun and kill that dumb white bitch.” The comment was overheard by an undercover officer who then followed Bell and his friends to their vehicle.  

Conflicting reports from police officers and witnesses paint a confused picture of what happened next. According to one of the victims injured in the shootout, officers failed to identify themselves when they approached Bell and two friends with drawn weapons. Some witnesses reported that the officers began firing immediately without warning. The police officer who began shooting claims that he saw a man in the vehicle Bell was riding in with a drawn weapon. The man supposedly fled the scene as shooting broke out. However, no proof of the man’s existence was ever found.  

Civil rights activist Al Sharpton claimed in an interview on Larry King Live that he found no evidence that either Bell or his friends made any comments about a gun while they were leaving the club in Queens. He also stated that he believed there was no one with a gun in the vehicle when police began firing. However, police noted that Sharpton had given money to several witnesses he interviewed regarding the incident and have called the credibility of their statements into question.  

Five officers outside the club engaged in the shootout, firing at least 50 bullets toward Bell and his friends. Bell was hit four times in the neck and torso. Bell’s friend Joseph Guzman was shot 19 times and his other friend, Trent Benefield, was shot three times. Bell died of his injuries. Before his death, Bell had been arrested three times for drug dealing and firearms possession. Guzman and Benefield had been both also been arrested previously for firearms possession as well as on other charges.  

Following the shooting, a mass protest was held accusing police of using excessive force. Accusations of racism and stereotyping were also launched against the New York Police, as Bell and his friends were Black. The three officers primarily involved in the shooting were Black, White and Hispanic. More than 100 witnesses from the incident were interviewed by the Queens District Attorney’s office. Three of the police officers involved in the shooting were indicted by a grand jury in March, 2007. Officer Gescard Isnora, Officer Michael Oliver and Detective Marc Cooper all pled not guilty to all charges.  

On April 25, all three officers were acquitted on all charges and released. The ruling was handed down by Justice Arthur J. Cooperman as the officers had asked for a bench ruling rather than a jury trial. Following the acquittal, Al Sharpton and Bell’s family held a memorial service at Bell’s grave in Port Washington.  

On Wednesday, Sharpton led a large protest in New York City against the handling of the case by the city’s judicial system and to demand a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting. "Some will kneel in prayer and risk arrest to heighten the national attention to the fact that the civil rights of people in New York have been violated with this judge's ruling," Sharpton told The Associated Press.  

Over 200 protestors, including Sharpton and Bell’s parents and fiancé, were arrested during the protest for blocking traffic on several major arteries and were charged with disorderly conduct. Protestors did not resist arrest as they were handcuffed and loaded into police vans. Some of the protestors had signed up in advance of the event to be arrested as part of the demonstration.