REV. AL WANTS STREET NAMED AFTER SEAN BELL:
Dec 22nd, 2009 by Bilal Ali
Reverend Al Sharpton has joined an effort to rename a street in Queens, NY after police shooting victim Sean Bell.
At a Harlem meeting Saturday, Sharpton and City Comptroller-elect John Liu urged the City Council to vote to rename a stretch of Liverpool Street in Jamaica “Sean Bell Way,” reports NY1.
Bell was unarmed when he was shot and killed by police on the morning of his wedding day in 2006. Three officers were acquitted in the case.
The City Council Committee on Parks and Recreation voted in favor of the proposal last week, and a full council vote is expected this week. Supporters say the measure sends a positive message to the community.
“This has something to do with our community embracing and using as example a young man that was on his way to doing what was right and his community rallied around him. That’s what streets are named for,” said Sharpton.
Bell and two other men were shot during a confrontation with undercover officers outside a strip club in November 2006. The city detectives’ union has come out against the potential street renaming, calling it an insult to law enforcement.