LIES OF THE RACE-BAITERS
NEW YORK POST
Editorial
December 19, 2006
The race-baiters are back. This time they're aiming to "shut down Wall Street" - in a protest Thursday of what they say is "an unspoken but racist" NYPD policy that targets blacks and Hispanics.
The event's organizers - groups known as the December 12th Movement and the Black Men's Movement - point to the police shooting of Sean Bell last month as a prime example.
They depict white officers as the culprits in a "racist" plot.
Only one problem: Six of the nine members of the police task force that shot Sean Bell and his companions last month were black. Six of nine.
Of the five shooters, three were black.
As a matter of fact, Gescard Isnora - the undercover cop who, a key source says, was first to fire his weapon that night - is one of the blacks on the team.
Isnora let loose 11 shots after he was struck by Bell's car. A second black cop shot four times, and a third shot once.
As for the three whites, one didn't fire; a second let off three rounds - and the third, Michael Oliver, shot 31 times.
Now, the fusillade may well suggest an ill-trained or badly disciplined undercover squad.
But how it constitutes evidence of racism completely eludes us: Again, two-thirds of the cops involved, and three of the five shooters, were black.
Of course, this is not something the protest's organizers want you to know.
Instead, the flier they distributed announcing the event prominently features the pictures of only three whites - Police Commissioner Ray Kelly; the task force leader, Lt. Gary Napoli, and Oliver.
And the intent of their rhetoric is unmistakable: "The execution of Sean Bell in Queens and the attempted police cover-up which followed" are among several "indicators that the New York City Police Department is out of control in Black and Latino communities."
This, of course, is an outrageous, preposterous - and dangerous - lie. And the proof, obviously, is in the racial breakdown of the task force and those officers who fired their weapons the night Bell died.
But the race-baiters never let facts get in the way of their trouble-making.
They're hoping to inflame black New Yorkers against a police force they want to portray as white and racist: "This racist policy of 'shoot to kill' in Black and Latino communities must stop now," their flier says.
And it demands that Kelly be fired.
If not, the flier says, "there will be no 'business as usual' on Wall Street" Thursday.
We're certain that business on Wall Street Thursday will be very much "as usual" - if for no other reason than because the NYPD will make certain that it is. And good for the NYPD.
Meanwhile, Bell's family - and others - are calling for a special prosecutor to probe the conduct of the officers. That seems singularly unhelpful.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, who is widely respected for his thoroughness and impartiality, has already undertaken a probe.
Even state Sen. Malcolm Smith, a black Queens Democrat who is slated to become Senate minority leader and who marched in support of the family on Saturday, told The Post yesterday he had total confidence in Brown.
If those folks who are calling for justice really want to see it prevail, they should sit tight and let the process play out.
Inflaming passions - especially while lying about the facts - won't help anything.
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