I took part in the march on the 16th of December in Manhattan against police violence. The march was prompted by the shooting death of Sean Bell by NY police. The march had thousands of participants, and stretched along most of 5th Avenue. (Note: I am a cousin of the Bell’s Fiancee, Nicole Paultre.)
There were also a lot of people watching the march against police brutality. The police set up barricades to create a march route from 59th St. and 5th (Central Park South, right in front of the old Plaza Hotel) to 34th and 7th (Penn Station). The march was very orderly, and the marchers’ chants were dominated by a count to 50 to point out the ridiculous number of times Sean Bell (unarmed) was shot. There were a lot of helicopters in the sky, too.
Al Sharpton and Charles Rangel were there. (IMNSHO, those two men represent opposite ends of the respectability scale.) The other picture is me (4) with Les Paultre (3), Nicole’s father and two of my cousins, Furcy (2) and Alan (1) Paultre.
PS: I’d also like to thank everyone for their comments of condolence and support.
PPS: I noticed that there is very little press coverage in the mainstream media, even though there were tens of thousands of marchers and they blocked most of Fifth Avenue from Central Park to Herald Square on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
Al Sharpton and Charles Rangel were there. (IMNSHO, those two men represent opposite ends of the respectability scale.
They’re on the same end as far as I’m concerned.
Maybe democracy does work and can tame the police state we are in.
Families deserve happier occasions than this to get together, Alix. You should be showing off wedding photos instead. So, so sorry…
I feel sorry for the victims and their families, as well as for the men and women in the police force who get their image tarnished by these rotten police officers. These police officers are nothing more than thugs and as such should face murder charges.
I wonder how New York City would do if all the police just quit.
after your done with that. can everyone at that protest come down here to long beach CA to come to protest the HATE CRIMES commited by those 9 black kids against to white girls. You know, they beat the shit out of them and shouted racial unsults at them
Whites aren’t the only ones that can be racist in this society.
1,
Then you don’t know very much about either.
3,
We also remarked on the fact that we only get together for weddings and funerals, and promised to do better. I hope we can follow up on our promises.
5,
Don’t be an idiot. I recognize the importance of a police force, as does my family. Read the damn protest signs. Being against police brutality is not being against the police. Note that the protest was very peaceful (no arrests or confrontations at all) and started and ended without incident.
6,
Don’t be a dick. What happened here and what happened there are two different things. I condemn what happened there, do you condemn what happened here?
So sorry for your family Alix…..and for Mr. Bell’s. Good to see a real activist amoung us though, even if we sometimes don’t agree, on this issue we do.
And I agree about Sharpton and Rangel on oppisote ends of the spectrum. I have a huge amount of respect for Charlie Rangel, even though he and I may also disagree on some issues. I consider Sharpton a race huckster, conman and nothing more.
8,
You have to stop this, Joshua, or I’ll have to come over there and hug you.
#9…Uhhh…hold on, I’m a Conservative, we don’t get into the huggy Kumbya stuff…..at least until after my 4th double Tequila shooter 🙂
let me add my condolences for your family, Alix. and my concurrence in your assessment of Wrangel and Sharpton.
telling Rob and Joe not to be dicks and idiots appears to be like telling the tide not to come in.
The more things change — the more they remain the same.
The first time I marched against police brutality was in NYC. Over an unarmed 14 year old boy killed by a cop.
I was at an unrelated meeting in the city and about a dozen of us decided to walk to the funeral parlor where there was a gathering of folks to pay their respects. People saw a group of black-and-white kids walking together — this was 1963 — and asked where we were going and why? And hundreds joined us — walking on the sidewalk, orderly, concerned citizens.
By the time we got within a block or two of the funeral parlor, we began to run into groups of cops in riot gear stationed around the neighborhood in Harlem. When we got within a couple hundred feet of the funeral parlor — they opened fire. Three people were shot including one woman carrying her baby.
My family includes cops. My friends include cops. Most of them know as well as I do that [1] the predominant culture in most urban American police departments is racist — [2] the predominant culture in most all American police departments is that they are above the law.
Alix, please accept my condolences.
Be well.
Be well. Be strong.
This is what happens when the system doesn’t properly screen their rookies before placing them in the academy. You get a bunch of knuckleheads with guns who cause more of a problem than what can be solved.
law enforcement knuckleheads, that is
12,
I disagree with your first point, but agree with your second. This had less to do with racism than with a “guns first” mentality. Better training would help in that area, and reminders that the police are there to protect and serve, not as an occupying force.
#18, So well put. I agree that most of the cops out there are very good and well intentioned.
You are very correct that a culture has developed where it becomes an us versus them mentality. This is only perpetuated by police training procedures that somehow are accepted as the law simply because the police have deemed it so.
As the Rodney King episode demonstrated, this happens with impunity way too often. There is no law that requires a person to “assume the position”. Yet the mere cry of a cop to a person means that if they don’t do this then the police are fully justified with beating the person into submission.
A couple of weeks ago, we saw a video here at DU where the police shot over 80 bullets at a suspect. They cared more for the dog then they did for the person. The dog THEY set on the suspect, who was armed with only a sandal.
#18, So well put. I agree that most of the cops out there are very good and well intentioned.
You are very correct that a culture has developed where it becomes an us versus them mentality. This is only perpetuated by police training procedures that somehow are accepted as the law simply because the police have deemed it so.
As the Rodney King episode demonstrated, this happens with impunity way too often. There is no law that requires a person to “assume the position”. Yet the mere cry of a cop to a person means that if they don’t do this then the police are fully justified with beating the person into submission.
A couple of weeks ago, we saw a video here at DU where the police shot over 80 bullets at a suspect. They cared more for the dog then they did for the person. The dog THEY set on the suspect, who was armed with only a sandal.
I apologize for this suggestion, as I realize the impact the situation has had on your family. I hope this opens up a whole new view on police powers. I hope this becomes a cause for police reform and attitude rethinking. I really hope his death isn’t for nothing.
Just as the FBI’s crime statistics demonstrate that black men are far more violent than others, perhaps the cops chose “Police Brutality” over “Criminal Brutality”. Maybe the 500 black men that fought the cops during earlier arrests should take some blame. A member of my family was killed by a gang of black men because he was white and in their “hood”. If they had taken the time to ask they would have found out he was there to teach their kids science. It was his first week as a school teacher, and it was barely reported in the local papers much less national ones. I have zero sympathy for a gang of black men trying to run over a cop, maybe next time they will stop the car.
20,
Some witnesses say the police vehicle ran into the suspect car first.
Also, every attempt to tar all suspects of color with the same brush only perpetuates violence on both sides, as police then feel justified in shooting, and the suspects feel justified in any defensive action as they know the police will shoot.
I feel for the family member of yours killed by senseless violence, and condemn those that use race as a handy tag to descriminate and commit violence against others. However, that goes both ways.
Your use of FBI statistics is specious. As people of color (any color) are a significant percentage of the poor and unemployed in urban areas, and we know that poverty is a motivator of crime, it is easy to attempt to link race and crime. However, skin color has nothing to do with character, no matter how many people try to make it so.
#21 – As people of color (any color) are a significant percentage of the poor and unemployed in urban areas, and we know that poverty is a motivator of crime, it is easy to attempt to link race and crime. However, skin color has nothing to do with character, no matter how many people try to make it so.
Absolutely. The environmental issues has a big impact on the way our lives turns out to be. People who are born with a silver spoon in their mouth is less likely to turn out violent since they don’t have to struggle to get what they want. But on the other hand, these silver spoon kids are more likely than poorer kids to turn out to doing major frauds in the careers… because after all, they got the opportunity. Honest and dishonest people are equally distributed among all layers of society.
Smartalix, I am so sickened by what happened I am at a loss for words. My sincere condolences for both yours and Nicole’s loss and anguish.
#21 – As people of color (any color) are a significant percentage of the poor and unemployed in urban areas, and we know that poverty is a motivator of crime, it is easy to attempt to link race and crime. However, skin color has nothing to do with character, no matter how many people try to make it so.
Absolutely. The environmental issues has a big impact on the way our lives turns out to be. People who are born with a silver spoon in their mouths are less likely to turn out violent since they don’t have to struggle to get what they want. But on the other hand, these silver spoon kids are more likely than poorer kids to turn out to doing major frauds in the careers… because after all, they got the opportunity. Honest and dishonest people are equally distributed among all layers of society.
Maybe democracy does work and can tame the police state we are in.
Spoken by someone who has never been in a police state.
#24 comment by GigG:
While true that most of the people who take the attitude that the police are out of control have never experienced the Stasi, or the Khmer Rouge, if you are a male Urban African American, you come closer to the experience of a genuine police state than most Americans will ever realize.
#21, copernicus
Perhaps you could enlighten us a little more. Do you have any links or specifics about this murder? If it is Ok for you to tar all blacks as violent then it is also incumbent on you to offer some proof.
And if you could, please explain your comment about the 500 black men who fought the police? You realize, we could also very easily recall all the unarmed black men that have been shot in the back by the police.
27,
I don’t believe that the police are out of control, I believe that the police have trouble policing themselves. THere are bad apples in every organization, and the police would be far more respected if they dealt with overzealous trigger-happy cops so that more people would trust and respect them.
Sorry for the total lack of sympathy on my part, but all of this is being done under the assumption that the police did something wrong.
While there are bound to be more than a few crooked, ruthless, law breaking bastards in a large police department, they don’t do things randomly. They’re as organized and methodical as the mob used to be.
What proof is there that somehow policy wasn’t followed? I’m assuming none, which tells you why the story isn’t getting press coverage.