An overnight vigil was followed by a solemn march Sunday morning as dozens of people observed the first anniversary of the slaying of an unarmed man on his wedding day.
The vigil began Saturday night on the Queens street where, on Nov. 25, 2006, undercover officers unleashed 50 bullets at Sean Bell's car, killing him.
With the crowd gathered around her, Bell's bride-to-be spoke about her fiance.
"I want justice, but no matter what happens, it won't bring Sean back,'' said Nicole Paultre Bell.
She was joined by relatives and supporters, including the Reverend Al Sharpton, for the six-and-ahalf hour vigil. The crowd then marched arm-in-arm to a nearby church where Sharpton delivered a sermon early Sunday.
Some City Council members had also announced plans for an overnight vigil in the same area.
Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell, has noted that the anniversary comes as the family awaits the outcome of a criminal case against three officers. Officers Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter; Officer Marc Cooper pleaded not guilty to reckless endangerment. A trial is scheduled this winter.
``I just keep asking myself, 'Why does this have to be my children? Why me? Why do we have to be the ones to go through this?''' Paultre Bell told the Daily News in an interview published Saturday. She and Bell, whose name she legally adopted after his death, had two daughters, now 4 and 1.
Bell and two friends were shot as they were leaving his bachelor party at a strip club, where the officers were probing reports of prostitution.
Police union officials and defense lawyers have said the officers believed Bell and his friends were headed to his car to retrieve a gun. No weapons were found.
The men had already reached the vehicle when an officer approached. According to police, the car lurched forward and bumped Isnora before twice slamming into an unmarked police minivan. Isnora has said through his lawyer that he saw one of the men make a suspicious move.
The seriously wounded survivors, Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman, say the plainclothes officers never identified themselves as police before opening fire. Isnora says he did.
The shooting sparked protests, including one in which thousands of demonstrators marched down Fifth Avenue shortly before Christmas, counting in unison from one to 50 to mark the number of shots police had fired.
Some saw the shooting as symbolic of excessive police force against black New Yorkers. Bell was black, as are Benefield and Guzman. The officers are white, Hispanic and black.
After the shooting, the New York Police Department commissioned the RAND Corp., a think tank, to look for ways to reduce the risk of so-called ``reflexive'' or ``contagious'' shooting _ the phenomenon of officers firing an excessive barrage of bullets in a chain reaction.
Paultre Bell has filed a lawsuit against the department, the city, the indicted officers and two others who were not charged. Her suit argues that the officers were poorly trained and opened fire without provocation.
1010wins.com
http://www.1010wins.com/Vigil--March-to-Mark-Anniversary-of-Bell-Shooting/1246161
