Sean Bell Way

The NYC Council is fighting amongst themselves over the decision to rename a Queens street after Sean Bell, the twice-arrested drug dealer who was shot at 50 times by the NYPD after they mistakenly (they say) thought he was reaching for a gun. Bell was killed and his case resulted in major reforms in NYPD procedures, although the firing officers were found not guilty of manslaughter.

Council members who voted in favor of the bill argued that the renaming was not simply a remembrance of a life cut short, but also a reminder of the steps the city took in the aftermath of the shooting. The department created a special panel to examine procedures for undercover police officers and made changes, including requiring breath tests for officers who fire their weapons. “This is a commemoration of a tragic event that got international attention and created a lot of reforms,” said Councilman Leroy G. Comrie Jr., a Democrat who represents the neighborhood where the shooting took place. A handful of council members opposed the measure, arguing that the Bell case did not fit the criteria for street memorials. “We use a street renaming as a way of recognizing someone’s heroic actions, whether in life or death,” said Councilman Eric Ulrich, a Queens Republican. “However tragic Sean Bell’s death was, I don’t believe his life or his death was heroic.”

Sean Bell Way was included in a bill authorizing numerous other name changes and could not be voted on independently. Queens Councilman Peter Vallone: "It's a despicable position we're being placed in. There is nothing about [Bell's death] that reflects positively on the city. He's a criminal. He was driving drunk."

Led by Al Sharpton, protesters poured into the NYC streets after the officers' 2008 acquittal. A multi-million dollar civil suit against the city and the NYPD is proceeding. Since his death, Sean Bell has been paid musical tribute by numerous rappers. And now, by a street sign in Queens.

Sean Bell Verdict Rocks NYC

In a case that has riveted NYC for the last 17 months, today three NYC detectives were acquitted in the shooting death of Sean Bell, a black Queens man who was fired at 50 times after undercover officers claimed they thought he was going for a gun. No gun was ever found.

Three detectives were found not guilty Friday morning on all charges in the shooting death of Sean Bell, who died in a hail of 50 police bullets outside a club in Jamaica, Queens.

Justice Arthur J. Cooperman, who delivered the verdict, said many of the prosecution’s witnesses, including Mr. Bell’s friends and the two wounded victims, were simply not believable. “The testimony of those witnesses just didn’t make sense,” he said.

His verdict prompted several supporters of Mr. Bell to storm out of the courtroom, and screams could be heard in the hallway moments later. The three detectives were escorted out of a side doorway. Outside, a crowd gathered behind police barricades, occasionally shouting, amid a veritable sea of police officers.

The verdict comes 17 months to the day since the Nov. 25, 2006, shooting of Mr. Bell, 23, and his friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, outside the Club Kalua in Jamaica, Queens, hours before Mr. Bell was to be married.

It was delivered in a packed courtroom and was heard by, among others, the slain man’s parents and his fiancée. The seven-week trial, which ended April 14, was heard by Justice Cooperman in State Supreme Court in Queens after the defendants — Detectives Gescard F. Isnora, Michael Oliver and Marc Cooper — waived their right to a jury, a strategy some lawyers called risky at the time. But it clearly paid off with Friday’s verdict.

A large protest of the verdict is already underway on Queens Boulevard, with traffic now restricted to one lane. Thus far the protest is peaceful, but there are some fears that things could turn violent, particularly with the verdict coming at the start of the weekend. Al Sharpton has been an advisor to the Bell family and is expected to plead for calm.

UPDATE: The Queer Justice League will join a protest rally of the verdict at noon tomorrow at the Queens District Attorney's office. Address: 25-01 Queens Blvd. between Hoover Ave & 82nd Ave. Take the E or F train to Kew Gardens-Union Tpke & walk 4 blocks SE, parallel to train.