The day after the verdict, 3,000 people marched in Manhattan. One thousand gathered across from the United Nations the following day. At a third march to City Hall, hundreds held up their wallets and chanted, "Don't shoot! Its only a wallet!" and "NYPD: Guilty!" In their scripted testimony, the four cops who shot the West African immigrant claimed they thought Diallo was reaching for a gun when in fact he was just taking his wallet out of his pocket as the cops approached him.

The big-business media raised the prospect of violent street actions after the acquittals, helping to justify placement of many cops on the streets and around the demonstrations. Disappointing them with dignified and political demonstrations, the protesters let the city government know just how the cops are seen by working people in this city.

The march through midtown Manhattan was organized by the coalition Justice 2000. The march grew significantly along the route and responded to police attempts to block its progress. Many motorists stopped as the demonstrators went by and honked in support. Some drivers held their wallets out car windows.

A nurse at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital decided to join the protest. "There should be a march every day until justice is served," she said, adding she had taken part in the many actions to demand justice for Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant worker who was tortured by the police two-and-a-half years ago.

Justin Volpe, one of the cops who brutalized Louima, plead guilty at the opening of the trial when it was clear there was damning evidence against him. He was convicted and sentenced to jail time last year. Three other cops are currently on trial.

Judy Cesaire, who saw the march go by as she was working and caught up with it after her shift, said, "I am upset at the verdict. Anyone else would be convicted. This is sending a message to the cops that they can do it again."

Hans Arrieta, 22, who works as a meat-packer and had also been at a gathering on Wheeler Avenue in The Bronx the night before, said at the march, "The police cannot change. The political system is designed to oppress the working classes, especially Latinos and Blacks. Clearly, racism exists in this country, and it starts with the government which makes the laws. It is good that we are out protesting today to say we are not going to take it anymore. W e can have many demonstrations, but if we don't organize, nothing will happen. We need leaders and political formations."

The four white cops--Kenneth Boss, Sean Carroll, Edward McMellon, and Richard Murphy--were charged with second-degree murder for killing the unarmed immigrant worker in a hail of 41 bullets. The jury also considered lesser charges. The officers, however, were acquitted of all charges February 25.

The officers were indicted after months of sustained protests in New York, which drew thousands of working people. Before the trial opened, however, it was moved out of the Bronx, to Albany, after an appeals court ruled in favor of the cops' claim that finding an "impartial" New York City jury was impossible.

Kadiatou Diallo, the mother of Amadou, participated in many of the rallies following her son's killing. On the "Today" show after the verdict was announced she said, "The judge said to the jury they should put themselves in the shoes of the police officers. But Amadou did not come alive during the trial. No one talked about him, really."

The judge instructed jurors several times that if they concluded that the officers "reasonably believed" Diallo was armed, they must acquit. Juror Helen Harder told the Associated Press that the law had made the jury's decision "very clear. Not happy, but clear."

During the trial, Dr. Joseph Cohen testified that three of the 19 bullets that hit Diallo proved that the officers continued their barrage when he was already down or on his way down. One bullet, he said, entered through the bottom of his shoe and traveled upwards. The officers testified that Diallo had assumed a "combat stance" and had forced them to shoot in self-defense.

After the "not guilty" verdict was handed down, about 300 people gathered in an impromptu rally on Wheeler Avenue where Diallo lived and was gunned down. It was a mixed crowd, mostly Black and Latino, with many from the neighborhood and some coming over from Brooklyn, Manhattan, and New Jersey.

There were also lines of riot police who blocked off the road. Many people chanted, "We want to march!" and some held handmade signs which read "Justice for Diallo." Some later marched to the 43rd Precinct, the base of the Street Crimes Unit to which the cops who killed Diallo belong.  
 

'He wasn't a criminal'

Jamal Hazlewood, 14, a high school student who lives on the street, stressed that this was not a "bad neighborhood," as the cops, the defense, and the media had painted it during the trial. "Everyone knows each other here. I knew Amadou. We played basketball together, he was always sitting on his front stoop. He wasn't suspicious. He wasn't a criminal." Hazlewood said that protesting the verdict was important "because it shows people all over the world what we think about it, and because it is the only thing we can do to stop it."

The Sunday action in front of the United Nations was organized by Alfred Sharpton, a prominent member of the Democratic Party and the National Action Network. It featured Kadiatou and Saikou Diallo, the parents of the slain man, many politicians and lawyers, and one active member of the New York Police Department.

Among those participating in the UN protest were two students from Hunter High School in Manhattan. They said that they're planning to organize a walkout at their school to protest the verdict.

"You don't shoot someone 41 times and say it's a mistake," said Celeste Rosa. "It's not a mistake. No way in the world you can say 41 shots is OK."  
 

Mayor: give cops benefit of doubt

New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani held a press conference where he defended the actions of the police department and said the case "fits well within the perimeters of a fair trial."

At graduation ceremonies for 1,224 new cops, Giuliani called them "civil rights workers," who "have to make more important decisions in a split second without any advice."

"When you are in an ambiguous but difficult circumstance," the mayor advised those who will carry semiautomatic pistols and walk the streets, "and when others are pointing the finger of blame on you, I give you the benefit of doubt."

Hillary Rodam-Clinton, who has announced her Democratic party campaign for U.S. Senate in New York, spoke at City College about the case. She has repeatedly apologized for referring to the killing as a murder, and stated that what is needed is more minority recruitment to the New York Police Department. She also stressed the need for more "understanding" of the police by the community and the need to "reach across the lines of mistrust and division."

Elena Tate is a student at Hunter College and a member of the Young Socialists. Bobbi Negrón, a student at Rutgers University and a member of the Young Socialists, and Glova Scott, a member of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees Local 23-25, contributed to this article.  
 
 
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