No justice, no peace

'NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE': Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton (I), Nicole Paultre Bell, fiancee of the late Scan Bell, and Joseph Guzman lead a group of demonstrators near New York Police headquarters in lower Manhattan. They were among the more than 200 people arrested after blocking traffic at the height of the evening rush hour to protest the acquittal of three detectives in the 50-bullet shooting of Sean Bell, an unarmed New York man, on his wedding day (JET, May 12). Demonstrators lined up and put their hands behind their backs as police arrested them on disorderly conduct charges. "I think what we wanted to show is that here in the 21st century, that people are prepared to even go to jail to make a model point that we cannot continue to see unchecked police violence against innocent people," Sharpton told JET. The demonstrators prayed, sang and chanted slogans including "no justice, no peace" as they converged on six heavily used bridges and tunnels that carry traffic to and from Manhattan island. Sharpton said they intend to have the "pray-in" protest weekly to urge federal authorities to investigate the shooting of Bell in November 2006.

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