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NEW YORK, March 3 (UPI) - The Rev. Al Sharpton has called for daily acts of disobedience
until four police officers who shot unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo
``are brought to justice.''
Sharpton and 10 other civil rights activists were arrested today for disorderly conduct
after sitting down in the street at the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway
in Manhattan's financial district.
Another 19 protesters were arrested in front of Merrill Lynch.
Police say Sharpton and the others were held for around 90 minutes, issued summonses,
and released.
Police Commissioner Howard Safir called the action irresponsible, and said many leaders
in the African-American community want to use the shooting of Diallo as an opportunity
for healing and building bridges with the police.
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, speaking in Washington, D.C., said he does not think the
demonstrations will become violent.
The lawyers for two of the cops involved in the shooting death say that even though
their clients are eager to tell their stories to a Bronx grand jury, they probably
won't testify because of the ever- present protesters that demonstrate near the place
where the hearing is.
Attorneys for street-crime unit officers Kenneth Boss and Richard Murphy said their
clients probably won't testify because of the presence of Diallo supporters a block
away from the panel that is weighing criminal charges against them.
A Bronx Supreme Court justice Tuesday nixed a defense request to move the grand jury
to a secret location, saying the presentation could be disrupted if the 23- member
panel were forced to relocate.
Boss, Murphy and two other police officers fatally shot Diallo, an unarmed West African
immigrant, 19 times last month as he was entering his apartment building in Soundview.
The grand jury will determine if charges will be pressed against the officers.
Copyright 1999 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.
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