OntheWilderSide

Ms. McKinney posted a statement about the Sean Bell shooting, and the acquittal of the officers which we posted here the other day. Below is a press release on the same topic:

April 26th, 2008                         

McKinney Responds to Verdict in Sean Bell's Murder
Green Party Hopeful Would De-fund Departments Which Violate Civil Rights

Cynthia McKinney, a Presidential candidate seeking the Green
Party nomination, today released a statement commenting on
Queens State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman's verdict,
acquitting NYPD Detectives Marc Cooper, Gescard Isnora and
Michael Oliver of all charges stemming from their fifty-shot
killing of an unarmed Sean Bell, on the eve of the young
father's wedding.  In it she invoked a long and disturbing
history of jurisprudence, founded in the Supreme Court's
finding that there exists "no rights which the white man
was bound to respect".  She also cited a growing resentment
among African-American communities within the country, over
the arrogance shown to their communities by the police forces
who are sworn to protect them.

"It is not impossible for us to have justice. We don't have to
lose any more people to police abuse, brutality, or murder,"
said Ms. McKinney, who left the Democrat Party in the Spring
of 2007, declaring her independence from its leadership,
which has perpetuated war both at home and abroad.  "But,
in order to change things, we're going to have to do some
things we've never done before in order to have some things
we've never had before," she noted.

Ms. McKinney has often spoken out on the issue of
police brutality, which she asserts "has reached epidemic
levels". During her six-term tenure in the U.S. Congress, she
introduced legislation to deny federal funds and the use of
federal equipment to any law enforcement unit found to have
violated the civil rights of the people it is organized to
protect and serve.

Recently, McKinney teamed up with the National Hip-Hop Political
convention to "launch a crusade against police brutality in the
African American community," featuring five days of vigils,
rallies, cultural and educational events linking the Atlanta
Police shooting of 92 year-old Kathryn Johnston on November
21st and the NYPD's murder of Sean Bell on November 25th.
Mrs. Johnson fired in self-defense against an apparent
home-invasion when the Atlanta City Police came to serve a
no-knock warrant that was issued based on faulty testimony
from a confidential informant.  In response, police officers
riddled her home with bullets, killing her in the process.

"Imagine if we had the laws on the books and the apparatus of
enforcement," to curb these abuses, said Ms. McKinney. "If we
demand more of our elected representatives, I'm convinced we
will get it. And it should be clear exactly what is needed if
we don't get what we demand."

Filed under: cynthia mckinney, Green Party Websites, presidential race, Press Release Tagged: | Police Abuse, Sean Bell