are - Blogs - TheBlackList Pub2024-03-29T08:52:06Zhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/arePenn State's shameful cover-uphttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/penn-state-s-shameful-cover-up2011-11-08T17:35:01.000Z2011-11-08T17:35:01.000ZDarcy Delaproserhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/DarcyDelaproser<div><div><h3 class="post-title entry-title"></h3><h3 class="post-title entry-title"></h3><div class="post-header"><div class="post-header-line-1"></div></div><div id="post-body-2731861370294257634" class="post-body entry-content"><h1 class="headline"></h1><div class="introduction"><div>Disturbing allegations of a cover-up of child sexual abuse at Penn State are a window into the way the economics of college sports can override basic decency.</div></div><div class="dateline">November 8, 2011</div><div class="dateline"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Penn%20State's%20shameful%20cover-up%20http://socwrk.org/15415%20@SocialistViews">Penn State's shameful cover-up http://socwrk.org/15415 @SocialistViews</a></div><div class="body"><div>AFTER 46 seasons coaching at Penn State University, coach Joe Paterno now faces a crisis that could burn the storied football program to the ground. And if recent charges are true, his legacy deserves to burn along with it.</div><div>For those who haven't heard, longtime assistant Jerry Sandusky, age 67, who coached the vaunted Nittany Lions defense for 23 years, <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57319610/sandusky-probe-penn-st-officials-face-charges/">has been charged with 40 sex crimes against boys dating from 1994 to 2005</a>. All of the minors were under the care of Sandusky's charity for impoverished youth, the Second Mile Foundation, which Sandusky founded in 1977. As the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/documents/sandusky-grand-jury-report11052011.html">grand jury presentment stated</a>: "Through The Second Mile, Sandusky had access to hundreds of boys, many of whom were vulnerable due to their social situations."</div><div>Sandusky is denying all charges through his attorney, but the grand jury report is a damning and detailed account of a man exercising his power and authority to rape young boys.</div><div>On one level, it's a horror story we've heard before: vulnerable children become targets for the very people trusted with their care. But this case is far, far worse, because it could have been stopped in time to spare future victims. It could have been stopped, but it wasn't because the image of Joe Paterno and Nittany Lion Football was deemed more important than the children at risk.</div><div>The grand jury summation describes one scene where Sandusky was caught raping 10-year-old "Victim Number 2" in the Penn State football team shower. The graduate student who witnessed it was "distraught" and "traumatized." Did he go to the police? No, he went directly to Joe Paterno's home.</div><div>Paterno immediately turned the matter over to athletic director Tim Curley and, for reasons I don't understand, Gary Schultz, the senior vice president of finance and business. Curley and Schultz conferred and acted. According to the grand jury report, they sat Sandusky down and said that he could no longer use Penn State football facilities while accompanied by Second Mile children. That's it.</div><div>Pennsylvania state law requires Curley, Schultz and Paterno to have reported the charges to the police. They didn't. (Curley and Schultz are being charged with perjury and obstruction. Paterno is not.)</div><div><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/documents/sandusky-grand-jury-report11052011.html">Curley even admitted to the grand jury</a> that he "advised Sandusky that he was prohibited from bringing youth onto the Penn State campus from that point forward."</div><div><a href="http://deadspin.com/5856887/as-recently-as-2009-jerry-sandusky-was-running-an-overnight-football-camp-for-kids-on-penn-state-campuses">Yet as Deadspin.com reported</a>, even this "punishment" was fictional. As late as 2009, Sandusky was on campus running a sleep-away camp for boys as young as nine years old. One alleged victim told the grand jury that Sandusky brought him to a Penn State preseason practice in 2007--a full five years after Paterno was made aware of the shower rape.</div><div>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</div><div>THIS IS why it's hard to take seriously Paterno's statement on Sunday, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/paterno-statement-says-hes-shocked-saddened-by-sex-abuse-charges/2011/11/06/gIQAuaoVtM_story.html">where he said</a>, "If this is true, we were all fooled, along with scores of professionals trained in such things, and we grieve for the victims and their families. They are in our prayers."</div><div>We are past prayer and into the realm of criminal negligence. And the major players are circling the wagons. Sunday night, after an emergency meeting of the Penn State Board of Trustees, Curley requested to be placed on administrative leave so he could devote himself full-time to his defense. Schultz also announced he would be retiring, effective immediately.</div><div>I agree with the <i>Washington Post's</i> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/if-jerry-sandusky-allegations-are-true-penn-state-and-joe-paterno-deserve/2011/11/05/gIQAYIucqM_story.html">Mike Wise, who wrote</a>, "They would all be party to a worse crime than any crooked, pay-for-play booster at Miami, Ohio State or even SMU ever committed: guilty of protecting a program before a child."</div><div>But at the same time, I would argue that the connective tissue between benign booster scandals and this monstrous state of affairs are more substantial than people want to admit. It's connected to the Bowl Championship Series, "conference realignment" and all the ways in which college football has morphed over the last generation into a multibillion-dollar big business.</div><div>This isn't about Sandusky. This is about a culture that says the football team must be defended at all costs: a culture where the sexual assault of a 10-year-old is reported to Paterno before the police.</div><div>This is what happens when a football program becomes the economic and spiritual heartbeat of an entire section of a state.</div><div>The Nittany Lions football regularly draws 100,000 fans to Happy Valley. They also<a href="http://www.businesspundit.com/the-12-most-valuable-teams-in-ncaa-football/">produce $50 million in pure profit for the University every year</a> and have been listed as the most valuable team in the Big 10 conference. Another economic report held that every Penn State game <a href="http://dailyitem.com/0100_news/x546126036/Penn-State-football-kicks-59M-into-region">pumps $59 million into the local economy</a>: from hotels to kids selling homemade cookies by the side of the road.</div><div>It's no wonder that Paterno is revered. He took a football team and turned it into an economic life raft for a university and a region. When something becomes that valuable, a certain mindset kicks in. Protect the team above all over concerns. Protect Joe Pa. Protect Nittany Lions football. Protect the brand. In a company town, your first responsibility is to protect the company.</div><div>Penn State has never been an "outlaw program." It's what every school aspires to become. Think about that. Every school aspires to be the kind of place where football is so valuable that children can become collateral damage. If the allegations are true, if the school in fact knew this was going on, then the program should be shut down. If the allegations are true, Joe Paterno should be instructed to take his 46 years and 409 wins and leave in disgrace.</div><div>It's tragic that it's come to this for a legend like Paterno. But it's even more tragic that protecting his legend mattered more than stopping a child-rapist in their midst. Damn Sandusky. Damn Paterno. Damn Penn State. But above all, damn the fact that the billion-dollar logic of big-time college football leads to decisions as venal as those made in Happy Valley.</div><div><i>First published at <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/164433/college-footballs-logic-why-joe-paterno-and-penn-state-would-shield-child-molester">TheNation.com</a></i>.</div></div></div></div><p> </p></div>Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome Presentation, We are our children's future!https://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/post-traumatic-slave-syndrome2011-01-21T21:39:21.000Z2011-01-21T21:39:21.000ZBaba Bob Shipmanhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/BabaBobShipman<div><p>This Black History Month Presentation</p><p>Dr. Joy DeGruy's PTSS Presentation and Book Signing is coming to Philadelphia on Sunday, February 20, 2011.<br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3828522555,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" width="750" src="{{#staticFileLink}}3828522555,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="3828522555?profile=original" /></a><br />We will host her at the Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School, 910 North 6Th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123.<br /><br />This Black History Month Presentation and Book Signing is sponsored by The Frator Heru Institute and The Philadelphia Chapter of N'COBRA (National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America).<br /><br />Please let your networks know. Tickets will be:<br />Adult - $10<br />Youth- $5 (under12 free)<br />Adult with 3 youth: $5ea.<br /><br />Dr. Raymond (Takari) Winbush will be doing the introduction for Dr. Joy DeGruy.<br /><br />This will be a treat indeed. It is our objective to have standing room only, with people waiting outside to get in. The event will have a family focus with outreach to high school and university youth. Please bring young people along to be engaged in this truly necessary dialogue.<br /><a href="http://www.thefratorheruinstitute.org/">http://www.thefratorheruinstitute.org/</a><br />Any Questions Contact The Frator Heru Institute:<br />215-235-1604<br />merretazon@verizon.net<br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/TheFratorHeruInstitute">http://www.facebook.com/TheFratorHeruInstitute</a></p></div>Are Race relations any better due to having a Black presidenthttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/are-race-relations-any-better2009-07-14T16:30:00.000Z2009-07-14T16:30:00.000ZTyrone T Dancyhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/TyroneTDancy<div>I want to share some thoughts with you, to find out how you view this. With the successful election of President Obama, many expected a new era ( I did not, did you?) in race relations when he took office. I personally think the racial divide is so deep, it will be almost impossible to establish sane, stable, race relationships in these United Sates. I make a practice of reading all the African-American papers in my City. (Philadelphia) It is so disturbing the hate that is in our midst towards those of african descent. What are your thoughts on this ? I recently read a book "indicating the tough time black women face in our society, we certainly have an idea of the horror facing the black male population. That is another subject for another time. I just stop by to generate some conversation. The well-being of the black community is always at the top of my daily devotions. May you have a fabulous today and a wonderful tomorrow. Please get back to me soon, Tyrone T Dancy</div>Murda !!! - Them a Murda Sean Bell and we just sit back and do what This Time ??https://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/2055350-BlogPost-22432008-04-25T20:18:35.000Z2008-04-25T20:18:35.000ZRE Ausetkmthttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/REAusetkmt<div><h3 align="center">- NO JUSTICE FOR SEAN BELL IN NYC TODAY -</h3>The Sean Bell Murder Trial has concluded with predictable results<h2><img src="http://www.justiceforsean.net/naacp-never_again-140px.jpg" align="right" height="196" width="150" alt="naacp-never_again-140px.jpg" /></h2><img src="http://www.justiceforsean.net/Sean_Bell_family_photo.jpg" alt="Sean Bell with his Family" align="left" /><strong>NO CONVICTIONS FOR THE MURDERERS - JUST ANOTHER MURDER ..</strong><h3>But let justice roll on like a river, Righteousness like a never-failing stream! - Amos 5:24</h3><strong>Friday, April 25, 2008, 9:20am:</strong>Justice denied -- <em>all</em> 3 police officers acquited of <em>all</em> charges. 50 shots fired at 3 unarmed, peaceful men -- and Sean killed on his wedding day -- and not even a reckless endangerment charge for one cop.<strong>Justice is not colorblind in Queens. To be continued.</strong><object width="425" height="355" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZJUdVhuhlqc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never" ></param><param name="allowNetworking" value="internal" ></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZJUdVhuhlqc" ></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent" ></param><embed wmode="opaque" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZJUdVhuhlqc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="355" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal"></embed></object><strong>CNN Covers the Aftermath at the Courthouse</strong><object width="425" height="355" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/P--gTJFwE4I" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never" ></param><param name="allowNetworking" value="internal" ></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/P--gTJFwE4I" ></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent" ></param><embed wmode="opaque" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/P--gTJFwE4I" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="355" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal"></embed></object><strong>PAPOOSE PUTS IT DOWN LIKE IT NEEDS TO GO DOWN - YEAH BWOY.</strong><object width="425" height="355" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/YxtirIm46YE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never" ></param><param name="allowNetworking" value="internal" ></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YxtirIm46YE" ></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent" ></param><embed wmode="opaque" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YxtirIm46YE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="355" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal"></embed></object><object width="425" height="355" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/YxtirIm46YE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never" ></param><param name="allowNetworking" value="internal" ></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YxtirIm46YE" ></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent" ></param><embed wmode="opaque" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YxtirIm46YE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="355" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal"></embed></object> <strong>at the Courthouse the AP Speaks to the Family about the Reality and thefamily talks about their feelings - This is Before the verdict is announced.</strong><h2><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/nyregion/26BELL.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all">3 Detectives Acquitted in Sean Bell Shooting</a></h2><p class="byline">By <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/michael_wilson/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More Articles by Michael Wilson">MICHAEL WILSON</a></p><p class="timestamp">Published: April 26, 2008</p>Three detectives were found not guilty Friday on all charges in the shooting death of <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/sean_bell/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Sean Bell.">Sean Bell</a>, who died in a hail of 50 police bullets outside a club in Jamaica, Queens, in November 2006. The verdict prompted calls for calm from the mayor, angry promises of protests by those speaking for the Bell family and expressions of relief by the detectives.<img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/04/25/nyregion/25bell11-190.jpg" align="right" border="0" height="127" width="190" alt="25bell11-190.jpg" /> - Chang W. Lee/The New York TimesThe detectives who were acquitted, Gescard F. Isnora, left, Marc Cooper and Michael Oliver, with Michael J. Palladino, president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association, at the union’s headquarters on Friday.<img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/04/24/nyregion/BellPromo190.jpg" alt="Inside the Sean Bell Case" align="left" border="0" height="126" width="190" /><h2><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/04/24/nyregion/20080424_BELL_GRAPHIC.html">Inside the Sean Bell Case</a></h2><img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/04/25/nyregion/0426-met-webPOLICE.190.jpg" alt="Killed or Injured by Police" align="left" border="0" height="126" width="190" /><h4>Related</h4><h2><a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/sean_bell/index.html">Times Topics: Sean Bell</a></h2><img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/04/25/nyregion/25bell09-2-190.jpg" align="right" border="0" height="127" width="190" alt="25bell09-2-190.jpg" />Todd Heisler/The New York Times<strong>Killed or Injured by Police ?</strong>The crowd gathered at the Queens Criminal Court building reacted to the verdict in the Sean Bell shooting trial. The Rev. Al Sharpton, right, and Valerie and William Bell, Sean Bell’s parents, leaving the courthouse after the verdict.<img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/04/25/nyregion/25bell04-190.jpg" align="right" border="0" height="115" width="190" alt="25bell04-190.jpg" />(Brendan McDermid/Reuters)Detective Michael Oliver, who fired 31 bullets the night of the shooting and faced manslaughter charges, said Justice Arthur J. Cooperman had made a “fair and justdecision.”Justice Cooperman delivered the verdict in State Supreme Court at 9 a.m. Giving his reasoning, and describing the evidence, he said it was reasonable for the detectives to fear that someone in the crowd that night carried a gun. He added that many of the prosecution’s witnesses, including Mr. Bell’s friends and the two wounded victims, were simply not believable. “At times, the testimony of those witnesses just didn’t make sense,” the judge said.<img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/04/25/nyregion/24bell-190.jpg" align="left" border="0" height="141" width="190" alt="24bell-190.jpg" /> Gescard F. Isnora, left, Michael Oliver and Marc Cooper, the defendants in the case.Several supporters of Mr. Bell stormed out of the courtroom, and a few small scuffles followed outside the courthouse. By midafternoon, there were no suggestions of any broader unrest around the city. Mr. Bell’s family and fiancée left without making any comments and drove to visit his grave at the Nassau Knolls Cemetery and Memorial Park in Port Washington.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.<object width="425" height="355" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/_mCOtbmPPeY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never" ></param><param name="allowNetworking" value="internal" ></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_mCOtbmPPeY" ></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent" ></param><embed wmode="opaque" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_mCOtbmPPeY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="355" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal"></embed></object> <strong>Sean Bell Murder - from the Focus on Diversity program in Milwaukee</strong>It was delivered in a packed courtroom. Mr. Bell’s family sat silently as Justice Cooperman spoke from the bench. Behind them, a woman was heard to ask, “Did he just say, ‘Not guilty?’ ” Detective Oliver and the two other defendants, Detectives Gescard F. Isnora and Marc Cooper, were escorted out a side doorway as court adjourned.The acquittals do not necessarily mean the officers’ legal battles are over. Commissioner <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/raymond_w_kelly/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Raymond W. Kelly.">Raymond W. Kelly</a> said the three men could still face disciplinary action from the Police Department, but that he had been asked to wait on any internal measures until the United States attorney’s office determines whether or not it would pursue federal charges against them.<object width="425" height="355" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/7PecNRKVHj8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never" ></param><param name="allowNetworking" value="internal" ></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7PecNRKVHj8" ></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent" ></param><embed wmode="opaque" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7PecNRKVHj8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="355" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal"></embed></object> (Ray Kelly - NYPD Chief Makes Jokes about Sean Bell MURDER in Interview)The seven-week trial, which ended on April 14, was heard by Justice Cooperman after the defendants waived their right to a jury, a strategy some lawyers called risky at the time. But it clearly paid off.Before rendering his verdict, Justice Cooperman ran through a narrative of the chilly November evening when Mr. Bell died, and concluded “<em>the police response with respect to each defendant was not found to be criminal.</em>”<blockquote><p align="justify"><strong>“The people have not proved beyond a reasonable doubt” that each defendant was not justified in shooting, the judge said, quickly adding that the men were not guilty of all of the eight counts, five felonies and three misdemeanors against them.</strong></p></blockquote>Roughly 30 court officers stood by, around the courtroom and in the aisles. At one point as he read, Justice Cooperman paused to insist that a crying baby be taken from the courtroom. Immediately a young woman who appeared to be among the Bell contingent got up and left with a baby.The Rev. <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/al_sharpton/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Al Sharpton.">Al Sharpton</a> accompanied Bell family members to the cemetery, and said later that they will join him on Saturday at a rally protesting the verdict. He said he had spoken to the governor and the mayor, and that he believed a federal civil rights prosecution of the officers would be appropriate.<strong>“This verdict is one round down, but the fight is far from over,” Mr. Sharpton said.</strong><object width="425" height="355" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/dFEIlpm6HEM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never" ></param><param name="allowNetworking" value="internal" ></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dFEIlpm6HEM" ></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent" ></param><embed wmode="opaque" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dFEIlpm6HEM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="355" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal"></embed></object> <strong>DemocracyNow.org - The Murder of Sean Bell Footage</strong><object width="425" height="355" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/iIamRtDgB14" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never" ></param><param name="allowNetworking" value="internal" ></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iIamRtDgB14" ></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent" ></param><embed wmode="opaque" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iIamRtDgB14" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="355" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal"></embed></object> <strong>Part Two of the Sean Bell Murder</strong>He promised protests “to demonstrate to the federal government that New Yorkers will not take this abortion of justice lying down.” He even raised the possibility of taking protests directly to Justice Cooperman’s home.<p align="justify"></p><blockquote><strong>Mayor <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/michael_r_bloomberg/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Michael R. Bloomberg.">Michael R. Bloomberg</a> called for calm. “There are no winners in a trial like this,” he said. “An innocent man lost his life, a bride lost her groom, two daughters lost their father and a mother and a father lost their son.”</strong></blockquote>The mayor continued: “Judge Cooperman’s responsibility, however, was to decide the case based on the evidence presented in the courtroom. America is a nation of laws, and though not everyone will agree with the verdicts and opinions issued by the courts, we accept their authority.”He added: “There will be opportunities for peaceful dissent and potentially for further legal recourse — those are the rights we enjoy in a democratic nation. We don’t expect violence or law-breaking, nor is there any place for it.”A subdued Queens district attorney, <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/richard_a_brown/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Richard A. Brown.">Richard A. Brown</a>, whose office prosecuted the case, said at a news conference: “Judge Cooperman discharged his responsibilities fairly and consciously under the law. I accept his verdict, and I urge all fair-minded individuals in this city to do the same.”Commissioner Kelly, speaking in Brooklyn, would not comment on the verdict itself. But he did say that while there were no reports of unrest in response to the acquittals, the Police Department was ready should it occur.“We have prepared, we have done some drills and some practice with appropriate units and personnel if there is any violence, but again, we don’t anticipate violence,” Mr. Kelly said. “There have been no problems. Obviously there will be some people who are disappointed with the verdict. We understand that.”Detectives Isnora and Oliver had faced the most charges: first- and second-degree manslaughter, with a possible sentence of 25 years in prison; felony assault, first and second degree; and a misdemeanor, reckless endangerment, with a possible one-year sentence. Detective Oliver also faced a second count of first-degree assault. Detective Cooper was charged only with two counts of reckless endangerment.All three of the detectives, none of whom took the stand during the trial, spoke at the offices of their union on Friday afternoon. “I’ve just started my life back,” Detective Cooper said.During the 26 days of testimony, the prosecution sought to show, with an array of 50 witnesses, that the shooting was the act of a frightened group of disorganized police officers who began their shift that night hoping to arrest a prostitute or two and, in suspecting Mr. Bell and his friends of possessing a gun, quickly got in over their heads.“We ask police to risk their lives to protect ours,” said an assistant district attorney, Charles A. Testagrossa, in his closing arguments. “Not to risk our lives to protect their own.”The defense, through weeks of often heated cross-examinations, their own witnesses and the words of the detectives themselves, portrayed the shooting as the tragic end to a nonetheless justified confrontation, with Detective Isnora having what it called solid reasons to believe he was the only thing standing between Mr. Bell’s car and a drive-by shooting around the corner.Several witnesses testified that they heard talk of guns in an argument between Mr. Bell and a stranger, Fabio Coicou, outside Kalua, an argument, the defense claimed, that was fueled by bravado and Mr. Bell’s intoxicated state. Defense lawyers pointed their fingers at Mr. Guzman, who, they said, in shouting for Mr. Bell to drive away when Detective Isnora approached, may have instigated his death.Detective Isnora told grand jurors last year that he clipped his badge to his collar and drew his gun, shouting, “Police! Don’t move!” as he approached Mr. Bell’s Nissan Altima.Other witnesses, mostly friends of Mr. Bell, said they never heard shouts of “Police!” Mr. Guzman and Mr. Benefield testified that they had no idea that Detective Isnora was a police officer when he walked up with his gun drawn.<object width="425" height="355" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/44oJaJJQuNA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never" ></param><param name="allowNetworking" value="internal" ></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/44oJaJJQuNA" ></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent" ></param><embed wmode="opaque" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/44oJaJJQuNA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="355" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal"></embed></object> <strong>50 Shots for Sean Bell - Why ? pt.1</strong><object width="425" height="355" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/fPkfNpuh05w" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never" ></param><param name="allowNetworking" value="internal" ></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fPkfNpuh05w" ></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent" ></param><embed wmode="opaque" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fPkfNpuh05w" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="355" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal"></embed></object> <strong>They Reloaded Why - 50 shots for Sean Bell - Why ? Pt.2</strong><object width="425" height="355" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/JtTLzbdGTe0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never" ></param><param name="allowNetworking" value="internal" ></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JtTLzbdGTe0" ></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent" ></param><embed wmode="opaque" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JtTLzbdGTe0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="355" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal"></embed></object> <strong>Nicholas Heyward who's s 13yr old son was wacked by another nypd pigspeaks about the Murder of Sean Bell.</strong><h1>Remember All The VICTIMS ON OCT 22 Stop Police Brutality Day IN NYC</h1></div>