Sharpton, Paultre Bell arrested during protest

Police arrested Reverend Al Sharpton, Nicole Paultre Bell - the fianc/e of Sean Bell - and many other Bell supporters engaging in acts of civil disobedience on Wednesday, May 7.
Police officers arrested Paultre Bell and Sharpton at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge shortly before 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
More than a week after a not guilty verdict in the Sean Bell trial, the city began seeing the largest demonstrations to date as protesters filled six strategic locations throughout the city to voice their displeasure at the Bell verdict.
Meanwhile, traffic snarled at the locations, which were chosen after a series of meetings between Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN) and community representatives.
Sharpton and organizers vowed to keep their actions non-violent, but he said these are only the first round of many protests planned leading up to acts that will shut the city down.
As of press time, protesters and marchers were still in the strategic locations, and hundreds of police officers were trying to keep control of the crowd. Some arrests already occurred at the six locations.
Meanwhile, Michael Palladino, President of the Detectives Endowment Association (DEA), was expected to travel to Washington D.C. to meet with Congressmember John Conyers, who is the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, on Wednesday afternoon to lobby Conyers not to seek a civil rights case against the three detectives.
Conyers and other members of Congress visited Queens last week to meet with Sharpton, members of Bell’s family and local elected officials, who were encouraging the officials to open a federal probe into the case.
After a seven-week trial, Justice Arthur Cooperman delivered a not guilty verdict clearing Detectives Michael Oliver, Gescard F. Isnora and Marc Cooper on all charges relating to their roles in Bell’s death.
* Check out qns.com during the week for updates on Wednesday’s protests and more Sean Bell coverage.