Political India: Engaging America

From The Hindu

The city of New York on Thursday agreed to pay more than $7 million to settle a civil lawsuit filed by victims of a police brutality case dating back to November 2006.

While two of the victims injured in the incident — Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield — were set to receive $3.25 million and $900,000 respectively, the children of the man killed on his wedding day by police officers — Sean Bell — would get $3 million placed in a trust fund. Mr. Bell’s fiancée Nicole Paultre Bell, however, will not receive any settlement, according to reports.

Speaking after the settlement was announced, Michael Cardozo, New York City attorney, was reported to have said, “The city regrets the loss of life in this tragic case, and we share our deepest condolences with the Bell family,” and he added that the city hoped this settlement would provide all parties with some measure of closure.

The three men were shot by plainclothes detectives outside a nightclub, where Mr. Bell was hosting a party the night before his wedding. While Mr. Bell was killed on the spot, Mr. Guzman was hit by 17 bullets and Mr. Benefield was also seriously injured. Reports said that 50 shots had been fired in the span of a few seconds.

Given differences in the accounts of the police and some witnesses, including the fact that no gun was found on the victims despite police allegations that they had been armed, the incident set off protests on the streets of New York. The fact that the three victims were African-American had also revived allegations of racist attitudes in the city’s police force.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg was reported to have described the shooting as “inexplicable” and “unacceptable” and said that excessive force might have been used.

While three police officers involved were indicted on multiple charges in March 2007, the United States Department of Justice said in February this year that it “would not pursue federal civil rights charges against police officers involved”, citing a lack of sufficient evidence.

Labels: Joseph Guzman, police brutality, Sean Bell, Trent Benefield