Skip navigation
sponsored by 

Sharpton, slain groom's fiancée, others arrested

Hundreds protest acquittals of three NYC officers in 50-bullet shooting

Video
  Arrests at Sean Bell 'prayer protests'
May 7: Hundreds of people march in New York to protest the acquittals of three detectives in the killing of Sean Bell. MSNBC's Contessa Brewer reports.

MSNBC

Video: Crime & courts  
Caught on Camera: The Thin Blue line
July 3: They're on the front lines of right and wrong, and right in front of the camera. When they go to work, the camera rolls, capturing heart-stopping moments. Real cops, real life, all caught on camera.

  Stand and be counted
Gut Check America

What keeps you up at night? Gut Check America wants you to tell us what really matters to our country. Click here to learn more and get involved.

  Photo features  
  More
A stall holder selling pig masks stands at his stall at the annual Glastonbuury Festival 2008 in Somerset in southwest England
Reuters
  The Week in Pictures
Everyday people living everyday lives despite heat and storms
New York Yankees left fielder Damon falls to field at Yankee Stadium in New York
Reuters
PhotoBlog
View and discuss the pictures and issues that caught our eyes.
updated 9:27 p.m. ET May 7, 2008

NEW YORK - The Rev. Al Sharpton was arrested at the Brooklyn Bridge on Wednesday as he and hundreds of demonstrators blocked traffic to protest the acquittal of three detectives in the 50-bullet shooting of an unarmed black man on his wedding day.

Sharpton, two survivors of the shooting and the slain man's fiancee were among about a dozen people arrested on disorderly conduct charges near the base of the bridge.

Police led away demonstrators at several other bridges and tunnels in the city.

Story continues below ↓
advertisement

The protests were part of a coordinated campaign to urge federal authorities to investigate the November 2006 shooting of Sean Bell.

Three officers were acquitted of state charges last month.

Sharpton, shooting survivors Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman, and Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell, lined up and peacefully put their hands behind their backs as police put plastic handcuffs on them. Sharpton and Bell were placed in a police vehicle.

The civil rights leader is seeking a federal civil rights probe into Bell's shooting outside a Queens nightclub. The case raised questions about police use of deadly force in minority neighborhoods.

Sharpton had promised recently to "close this city down" with civil disobedience.

Bell was black, as are his friends Benefield and Guzman; the three officers acquitted in the case are Hispanic, black and white.

U.S. attorney spokesman Robert Nardoza said the case was under review, but he declined to comment further.

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sponsored links

Resource guide

Search Jobs

View Photos of Singles

Find your next car

Find Your Dream Home

Find a business to start

$7 trades, no fee IRAs