Understanding The Diallo Case

Guns Magazine, July, 2000 by Massad Ayoob

In the early morning hours of February 4, 1999, four NYPD Street Crime Unit cops patrolling in the Bronx mistakenly shot and killed Amadou Diallo, firing 41 shots and inflicting 19 wounds. Just a few days after the incident I wrote a column stating that this incident didn't involve four villains and a victim, but rather five victims. When that column was published in the September'99 issue of GUNS, a few of our readers wrote in and called me a whitewasher for the white cops who murdered a black man.

I am writing this column less than a week after a mixed-race jury acquitted the officers of all charges. Today CNN reported a poll that found 50 percent of Americans still didn't understand the acquittal. That shows you that at least half of the nation didn't follow the trial.

There are lessons here for all who carry a gun, not just cops; there are lessons here which everyone in our society should heed when interacting with on-duty police.