Peaceful protests over Bell trigger 200-plus arrests, including Sharpton | State and Local News | CW11 New York

From Newsday

Peaceful protests over Bell trigger 200-plus arrests, including Sharpton

BY ANDREW STRICKLER, andrew.strickler@newsday.com

May 7, 2008, 9:54 PM EDT

Bitterness over the Sean Bell verdict spilled onto city streets Wednesday as peaceful protesters blocked bridges and tunnel traffic at a half dozen places around the city, triggering more than 200 arrests.

Among hundreds or so chanting protesters who gathered after 3 p.m. on the red-brick plaza in front of police headquarters was Sean Bell's great-aunt, Gloria Porter, 64, an educational assistant from New Haven, Conn.

"We're going to fight the fight, but with God on our side," she said. "I won't give up. I'll kneel down and pray."

Wednesday's coordinated acts of civil disobedience were the most widespread protests to date since a judge overseeing the racially charged trial cleared three detectives who fatally shot Bell and wounded two others in a hail of bullets.

Renee Collymore of Brooklyn, who attended a demonstration near the Holland Tunnel said she didn't fear arrest. "The city is not listening," she said. "It's not a black thing or a white thing. It's about humanity."

The Rev. Al Sharpton, dressed in black and accompanied by Bell's fiancee, friends Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman, and other supporters, arrived at One Police Plaza about 4 p.m. Without addressing the crowd, Sharpton led demonstrators to the Brooklyn Bridge.

After about 100 people blocked the Brooklyn-bound lanes for several minutes, a police lieutenant used a bullhorn to warn the crowd of impending arrests. Officers then bound Sharpton and Nicole Paultre Bell's wrists with white plastic ties and led them to police vehicles, followed shortly by Guzman and Benefield. Paultre Bell's mother, Laura Harper, was also arrested.

Similar scenes of coordinated arrests played out, more or less simultaneously, at the Manhattan Queensboro and Triborough bridges and the Holland Tunnel.

Most of those arrested came prepared to go to jail; event organizers with armbands had gathered their names and many waited patiently in line for officers to lead them to waiting vehicles.

At the Brooklyn Bridge, more than 100 men filled a police bus, while women crowded a smaller truck. The crowd cheered as the vehicles pulled away.

Speaking after his release Wednesday night, Sharpton said, "I think this dispels the myth that people are not interested. ... I think a real statement was made," he added of the protests. "We're very proud of it."

Sharpton and members of the Bell family are to meet Gov. David A. Paterson in private Thursday and Sharpton said more weekly protests were planned.

Seeing Wednesday's turnout -- "all the support and everyone by my side saying Sean's name -- It feels good," said Paultre Bell.

Bell's friend Joseph Guzman, injured in the November 2006 shooting said: "We'll do this 365 days a year if we have to."

Police said about 225 people were arrested by 7:30 p.m., but dozens remained outside police headquarters as night fell. Police said most of those arrested were charged with disorderly conduct and issued a summons to appear in court.

Many demonstrators Wednesday expressed anger over last month's acquittal of detectives Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper. Others said they hoped the "pray ins" would pressure federal prosecutors to file civil rights charges against the officers.

Demonstrations were also held yesterday in Chicago and Atlanta. Police detective union president Michael Palladino met congressional leaders in Washington, D.C., to argue against federal prosecution.

"One has to move from being outraged about things to taking action," said Jenny Heinz, 63, a Manhattan psychotherapist arrested for blocking traffic to the Queensboro Bridge. "It's important for the citizens to express and show how they feel by engaging in civil disobedience."

Julia Nunez, 42, a banker from Harlem, said she attended in part out of concern for her nine brothers. "It's very sad that a black man's life is not valuable. You don't see police officers doing this to white men," she said.

In Brooklyn, more than 250 demonstrators, surrounded on three sides by dozens of police officers, chanted "We are all Sean Bell" as they marched down Atlantic Avenue toward the Brooklyn Bridge. Blocked by barricades from entering the bridge, marchers headed north on Tillary Street toward the Manhattan Bridge and then to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, forcing officers on foot and horseback to scramble to erect additional barricades.

The group then turned back toward the Manhattan Bridge, where city Councilman Charles Barron urged those who did not want to be arrested to move to the side. At about 4:30 p.m., 25 or so people sat in a roadway to the bridge. There was a brief shoving match as police arrested Barron and organizer the Rev. Herbert Daughtry, police said, but others waited patiently before being led to a waiting police wagon.

After bowing their heads in prayer, about 10 protesters locked arms across the outbound lanes of the Holland Tunnel as a police officer used a bullhorn to warn them of impending arrest. After a brief stand-off, police arrested those blocking traffic.

"The system can not go on as usual," said Mimi Rosenburg, 55, a lawyer from Bay Ridge, who sat by a road near the Brooklyn Bridge and waited to be arrested. "There needs to be justice for Sean Bell. I think civil disobedience is necessary."

This story was reported by staff writers Andrew Strickler, Michael Frzier, Keith Herbert and Rocco Parascandola, and Daniel Rosen and Pervais Shallwani. It was written by Strickler.