Green Party of New York State Rejects Judge’s Decision to Exonerate Police in Sean Bell Murder

Press Release: For Immediate Release

May 7, 2008

Green Party of New York State Rejects Judge’s Decision to Exonerate Police in Sean Bell Murder

Press Contact:

Gloria Mattera, Co-Chair, Green Party of New York State
718-369-2998 / 917-886-4538 Cell / Email
Peter LaVenia, Co-chair, Green Party of New York State
518-463-8653/ 518-495-8001 Cell / Email

The Green Party of New York State (GPNYS) offers its heartfelt condolences to the family of Sean Bell, and completely rejects the judge's decision to exonerate the police officers in Bell's killing, the latest in a long series of extrajudicial police killings of unarmed civilians.

The GPNYS calls for the City Council and the Mayor to establish an elected Citizen Police Review Board that has subpoena power as well as the authority to impose meaningful sanctions on police officers who violate the law.

“The shooting at, and killing of, unarmed men of color, has become an acceptable and justifiable behavior both in the NYPD, the media, and the criminal justice system that regularly finds the police innocent of their crimes. These deliberate attacks have steadily risen. with the stakes ever increasing, 41 shots, 50 shots, what next, one hundred? What next, grenades?” said Evergreen Chou, former Green Party candidate for State Assembly in Flushing, New York.

These are no longer cases of police brutality. It is shock and awe, it is the deliberate terrorism of minority communities.

Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, a Green Party presidential hopeful, has released an extensive press release about the Sean Bell verdict, that references our flawed legal system. She states, "It is not impossible for us to have justice. We don't have to lose any more people to police abuse, brutality, or murder. 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."

GPNYS Platform
Green Party Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney
Other Green Party Presidential candidates:
Jesse Johnson
Kent Mesplay
Kat Swift