Fighting for an Innocent Death The Amadou Diallo Story
The four police officers acquitted of killing Amadou Diallo on the streets of the Bronx in New York should have been found guilty of second-degree murder. Edward McMellon, Sean Carroll, Kenneth Boss, and Richard Murphy are each part of the elite Street Crime Unit of the New York City Police Department. McMellon, Boss, and Carroll each have had previous investigations for using their weapons while on duty. Amadou Diallo was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Forty-one shots were fired at Diallo and nineteen actually struck him. He was an unarmed man and Dr. Joseph Cohen concluded after his autopsy "Diallo was paralyzed by one of the first shots, and based on the bullet paths, three hit Diallo after he was down" (Grace). On February 4, 1999 just after midnight Amadou Diallo, an unarmed, innocent man was murdered in front of his apartment building by four New York City Police officers. The officers identified themselves and when Diallo reached in his back pocket to pull out what eventually was found to be a mere wallet the four police officers opened fire. Carroll shouted "Gun!" then he and McMellon immediately started shooting and each emptied their sixteen round clips into the body
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/xnyap/20000302/lo/20000302019.html All four police officers have told reporters and attorneys how desperately terrible they felt. Remorse does not bring a young innocent man back to life, however, and justice has not been obtained. Carroll, Boss, McMellon, and Murphy each should have been found guilty of second degree murder. Affirmative action groups demand justice along with Saikou and Kadiatou Diallo Amadou's parents. "Under the law, the officers were justified in shooting if they thought Diallo had a gun, even if they were wrong" (Morganthau). De La Cruz, Donna. "Diallo DA Defends Handling of Case." Associated Press. 14 March 2000. Allen, Angela C., Tracy Connor and Ikimulis Sockwell, "A Family's Grief Angry Criers for
Some common words found in the essay are:
Amadou Diallo, African-Americans Hispanic, Allen Burke, Cops Crossfire, Gun McMellon, Louis Farrakhan, City Police, La Cruz, Johnson Officers, Diallo United, police officers, amadou diallo, march 2000, newsbank newsfile collection, collection record display, 14 march, newsbank march, record display, collection record, display internet, internet newsbank, display internet newsbank, record display internet, newsfile collection, newsfile collection record,
Approximate Word count = 992
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
