Thousands in NYC demand justice for Sean Bell

On Wed., Dec. 6, thousands of protesters came onto the streets surrounding Foley Square just north of City Hall in

downtown Manhattan to protest the unjust New York Police Department murder of Sean Bell and the failure of the city to indict the five undercover cops involved in the Nov. 25 shooting in Queens.

The rally was called before the police shooting by the December 12th Movement, a progressive organization, to connect the police occupation of low-income neighborhoods to that of Iraq. But given the police killing of Bell, the demonstration took on a more militant and confrontational mood against the police. A spontaneous march broke out. Protesters marched around Foley Square and by the NYPD headquarters a few blocks away where the rally was originally schedule to have taken place.

The crowd repeatedly counted from 1 to 50, simulating the rounds shot—17 of which pierced Bell’s body. Many held ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) and Party for Socialism and Liberation signs that read “NYPD Guilty” and “Cops out of our neighborhood. Troops out of Iraq.”

The impromptu march ended again at Foley Square where PSL youth led chants and agitational speeches armed with



a bullhorn near the “Triumph of the Human Spirit” memorial that honors survivors and victims of the Middle Passage. Fists punched the air and protesters nodded their heads as PSL member Carlito Rovira proclaimed that as a person of color, he was also Sean Bell and that every Iraqi shot dead was also Bell.  

Trent Benefield, 23, who was also in the car with Bell and shot by police that night, said in an interview yesterday, “One of my friends is dead, another one is shot up. I’m shot up. We need justice. I don’t want anyone to go through this. We need justice.”

Another march to demand justice for Bell is slated for Dec. 22 in New York City.