Amadou Diallo was only 22 years old when police targeted him outside his apartment and shot at him 41 times. He was struck 19 times and tragically died as a result of his injuries. The Bronx, New York was outraged and called for justice.
The four police officers that were involved were brought to trial for the murder of Amadou but was justice served?
In this 1 part episode we discuss who Amadou really was, police brutality, racial profiling, the injustice of the police department.
41 Shots
We have postponed our normal production schedule this week to cover a case that is incredibly relevant to the recent killings of Georgy Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others.
The fact of the matter is that I’ve never had to worry about losing my life to a police officer. In my personal experience, police have been there to protect me and I felt safer with them around. I’ve never had to teach my children how to not get shot by a police officer. I am privileged to live that way.
But that’s the way that every person should live, not just white people. People of color have to teach their children ways to survive encounters with the police. People of color live in fear of coming into contact with police. And rightfully so. This is a case about more than police brutality and even more than police murder with no repprecussions at all. This is a case that reveals to everyone the systemic racism that is still alive and well in our society today.
One of the biggest tragedies is that this case took place over 20 years ago and nothing has changed. We will include links to sites you can visit that will give you ideas of ways to take action if you’re not sure what you can do. Just look below the episode in the description. We can fight this together. We cannot go another 20 years and look back on this time and let it all have been for nothing.
Kadiatou Diallo, Amadou’s mother, starts out by saying she used to say when she would speak about her son, “I told people that we grew up together because I had him when I was a child myself.” She had him at 16. He told her that he wanted to go to the US because he wanted to have a computer degree. She applied for him and when he got his passport she said, “Look.” And she said he had the biggest smile. He had gotten the visa. He said, “Ok mom, thank you so much, I will make you proud.” America was a hope to Amadou. It was a way of achieving greatness.
February 4, 1999. The Bronx, New York.
Kadiatou said that before they came to the US they viewed it differently. The News said that racial tensions have arisen. In New York, in the 1990s, it was a major issue. Jeffrey Toobin, Staff writer, The New York Times, said that people cast their vote and among the candidates were Rudy Guiliani and David Dinkins. Dinkins was New York’s first black mayor. While he was in office, crime was going down. Murders are going down, assaults are going down says Frankie Edozien, reporter, New York Post, “He was a hero in some circles,”
Rudy and David are very different politicians. Rudy had a very aggressive approach to law enforcement. Guiiani put 40,000 officers in place of where the most crime occurred. Reverend Al Sharpton, civil rights activist, said that when Guiliani was elected the police were in charge, they were emboldened. Crime was down, but at what cost? Then we learn that in the Bronx, police shoot and kill an unarmed man and it took 41 shots to do it.
They really drove home that it was 41 shots. Frankie said that he learned of the crime and his editor asked him to go to the Bronx and cover it. He said people were milling around and were in tears. They couldn’t make sense of it. He said what they got from the NYPD at that time was that he had come home from work, and was standing in the vestibule when the men approached in their unmarked car, He reached into his pocket to bring out his wallet, 1 or 2 of them thought it was a gun, and opened fire.
Amadou Diallo was 22 years old. He was a street peddler from West Africa. He had police in front of him and possibly a locked door behind him, there was nowhere for him to go. Edozien said that the media really only cared about talking about the 41 shots, they had no interest in talking about who Amadou was. Just that he was a street peddler. He wanted to stay on the story and figure out who Amadou was.
Mrs. Diallo said that when Amadou went to America he left behind everything. He left his family, his culture, his privilege. She said they had a good life. She asked if he needed anything from her and he said, “just your prayers.” He wanted to make it on his own. She was proud. She received a phone call from a relative that lived in New York. She thought about Amadou and that maybe he was sick in the hospital, but she learned that Amadou had been killed. She said Amadou couldn’t have had any problem with the police. That it was unreal. She said she had to come to America to really understand what happened to Amadou.
Then we get into the investigation on the 4 officers who shot Amadou. They are Richard Murphy, Sean Carroll, Kenneth Boss, and Edward McMellon. 23 years collectively on the job and 41 shot collectively from them. Bennett Epstein, defense attorney, said that all you heard 24/7 was 41 shots. And you hear 41 shots and think that the cops were just trigger-happy and depraved killers. But he said that there are 2 sides to every coin.
That these were scared cops. The cops that shot Amadou were part of a unit called the Street Crime Unit, they were in plainclothes at the time. Toobin said that the unit was sort of the perfect illustration of the Guiliani philosophy in action. They were in plainclothes, in an unmarked car. So you wouldn’t know they were police until they stopped you. Frankie said that if you were a black or brown person, they could do or say anything to you in the name of protecting you.
A news story said that minority residents of New York complained that police engaged in systematic policy of harassment against young black males, and they took particular aim at the NYPD’s street crime unit. Amy Waldman, reporter for the New York Times, said that she was most interested in why police approached Diallo in the first place. What were they looking for? She said ultimately it goes back to their training. They weren’t trained for the possibility of innocence. At the point in the documentary, the 4 officers involved in the shooting were taken off street patrol and placed on desk duty. Sean Carroll had been calling in sick. They each retained attorneys when they learned that they could be held criminally responsible.
Bennett Epstein became Sean Carroll’s attorney. Carroll was the one that saw what he thought was a gun and fired the first shots. Epstein said, “we looked into Diallo and had some theories of why he was peeking in and out of the vestibule, which aroused the officers’ suspicion. They happened to be in a high-crime minority neighborhood, and they happened to believe that somebody was confronting them with a gun, and he happened to be black.”
Galen Kirkland, member of the civil rights coalition, said that New York was a racially segregated city and it was a city that you could be killed for taking a wrong turn because of racial violence. Under Giuliani there were other cases involving the use of excessive force by the police. Al Sharpton was the man who was gonna speak for Amadou Diallo and his family and the community. Sharpton said that the media is the way to force those who are reluctant to deal with an issue that they’re gonna have to deal with it. He was called by an activist in the bronx from Ginuea about Diallo’s murder. The city started to protest the murder.
February 9, 1999. 5 days after the shooting. Mrs. Diallo came to New York. She was met at the airport by the police who were escorting her and said they would take care of her. She wanted to go see where her son died. They were reluctant, but they took her. She went into his room, and she picked up his clothes and smelled them to feel closer to her son. She hadn’t seen him in 2 years. When they left they passed Reverend Sharpton, and she asked to stop to meet him. Sharpton said that he was worried that police were going to use Mrs. Diallo against them by giving her a fancy suite.
She asked Al Sharpton to explain to her what was happening in the city. And he told her about the police brutality. They talked for 45 minutes and then she said that she wouldn’t stay under the sponsorship of the city, that she was going to go with Sharpton and he would help her while she was there. Eric Warner, assistant DA, the Bronx, said that they had to have proper investigations which meant going to a grand jury. The officers didn’t testify.
February 11, 1999. Harlem, New York. Ms. Diallo spoke out for the first time.
Sharpton said that if she stayed under the sponsorship of the mayor they would’ve been labeled troublemakers. They wouldn’t have to face the systemic injustices. Ms. Diallo just wanted justice for Amadou. Something had to change. In the middle of all of the protests with Al Sharpton, Ms. Diallo went home to bury Amadou. Frankie went to Guinea to bury Amadou, and he said that the whole country seemed like it was weeping.
Ms. Diallo said that it was hard, but she got through it with prayers. She was determined to let people know who her son was. Sharpton was there and he told her after Amadou was buried that they were gonna go back and get the cops indicted. He promised her that. And she asked him to keep it peaceful, but do whatever is necessary. Sharpton said that when they got back they had to really put pressure on Giuliani.
Over 180 protesters were arrested, including former mayor David Dinkins. He said it was important to him to demonstrate his objection.
March 25, 1999. The Bronx. The police were indicted and charged with murder and reckless endangerment. They were temporarily suspended from the police department. Epstein said that the charge of murder against the officers was extreme. Richard Murphy said that he did nothing wrong. There was a ton of negative publicity from the point of view of the cops and Epstein said that it became apparent that a change of venue needed to happen. That jurors in the Bronx harbor prejudice against police and would taint a jury pool. How could people say that a murder committed in the Bronx couldn’t be judged by people who lived there?
Al Sharpton called on the federal government to stop the change of venue. Epstein read the first paragraph of the opinion of the appellate division on the change of venue motion. “The bedrock principle of our justice system is a defendant’s right to be presumed innocent until found guilty at a fair and impartial trial. A pretrial change of venue for the purpose of protecting the right of a fair trial is an extraordinary remedy reserved for the rarest of cases. The case of the four officers accused of murdering Amadou Diallo is that rare case.”
It was moved 140 miles away to Albany, New York. It went from the Bronx, which had a 19 percent white population, to Albany which had an 89 percent white population. Ms. Diallo said that the change of venue was like a slap on the face. Like moving the trial to a different world.
January, 31, 2000. 11 months later. The Diallo jury was 6 caucasian men, 2 caucasian women and 4 african-american women. The judge allowed cameras in the courtroom. Judge Teresi presided over the trial.
We heard the opening statements from both the Prosecution and defense. Toobin said that from the moment they knew there was going to be a trial they knew it was going to come down to one thing, 41 shots. Warner called Debbie Rivera, neighbor, to the stand and asked what happened when she returned to the window? She said she saw four guys. They were walking toward 1157. It cuts to another neighbor, Ida Vincent, and Warner asks if she heard anyone say, “Stop!” right before the shots? And she said no.
Thomas Bell, neighbor said that he heard a series of shots, He demonstrated them by hammering on the table. They called Dr. Cohen to explain how Amadou would’ve died as a result of the wounds. He said Mr. Diallo sustained 19 gunshot wounds. The cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds to the trunk, with perforations of the aorta, spinal cord, lungs, liver, spleen, kidney, and intestine. Warner said that Amadou had a door behind him, 2 walls in front of him and 4 men pointing 9 millimeter pistols at him. He had nowhere to go. And that is a depraved indifference to human life.
Toobin said that after the prosecution stated their case the bigger issue became how was the defense going to justify the 41 shots? Al Sharpton said, “When you get into the court of law, the public sentiment setes the staging so that the jurors and the justices cannot operate out of context of the racial and criminal justice politics of a country. It became imperative that we kept pounding that to the media and hopefully to the public.” He planned daily protests.
Epstein said that you could hear the chanting the entire time in the courtroom. The officers only hope of appealing to the jury was to take the stand and show their remorse.
Edward McMellon said that he saw Amadou appear from a vestibule. Sean Carroll said, “His right side is digging, he’s frantically opening, trying to get through that door. He’s looking at us…” Kenneth Boss said, “He was crouched, he was down low, and he had his hand out.” McMellon said, “I couldn’t see his right hand. He was still frantically tugging at something.” Sean Carroll said, “I was saying show me your hands. Show me your hands.” McMellon said, “Police. Don’t move.”
Epstein said that they were showing the jury why what had taken place was reasonable. McMellon said, “I could see Mr. Diallo turn. He was gripping a black, square object, and I — I thought it was a gun.” Boss said, “I seen a gun in his hand.” Richard Murphy said, “Not a doubt in my mind that he had a gun.” McMellon said, “I heard Sean yell, ‘He’s got a gun!” They all said, “I fired my weapon.” Sean said that he held his hand and rubbed his face. And while he’s saying this he’s crying. He told Amadou, “Please don’t die.”
Nancy Grace said, “You see someone reach into their pants, their jacket. They’re cops. They assume he’s reaching for a gun. I couldn’t tell what was going on, my buddies were firing, I thought he had a gun, and I regret it. I would change it if I could. If that reaches one juror, hung jury.”
Amy Waldman said, “the defense was very good and leading them to this display of emotion and showing remorse. They were playing to the cameras. They wanted to perform because they were painting their own picture. It’s what they do.” Ms. Diallo said that those were really hard weeks. Her son was being tried. He was not alive, he had no one speaking for him.
The prosecution didn’t even speak about who he was. She said finally she got up and walked out. She said that they kept saying he was suspicious. How can you suspect someone standing in front of their own front door? She said a supporter ran up behind her and said, “Mrs. Diallo, please be strong. You’re standing for us, too. Don’t let go. Don’t give up.”
February 25, 2000. Mrs. Diallo was called back to the courtroom. Warner said that it was a friday, they had learned that the jury had reached a verdict. Mrs. Diallo said that she went back in, sat on the bench between her two brothers, hand in hand.
All 4 officers were acquitted. Not guilty. Edozien said that it was such a gut punch, a massive, massive, massive disappointment. Al Sharpton said that they were outraged. Mrs. Diallo said that she’ll never forget those tears on her cheeks. She said, “It was like saying to me, your child has caused his own death.” In the end, it was not about Amadou. She said that the legacy she wanted for Amadou was a legacy of unity and justice for all.
At first the jurors said that they didn’t want to speak about the verdict, but in the face of mounting questions, they changed their minds.
Sharpton said that the prosecution put up a basic case and let the defense do whatever they wanted. They never tried to humanize Amadou. He said, “He became a mistaken particle of police fear, rather than a human being that lost his life and future. They never put his mother on the stand. That was as despicable as anything.”
Warner said, “pure emotion is supposed to be kept out of a trial if it’s offered just for its prejudicial effect. Mrs. Diallo’s unbelievable grief, in a trial? It isn’t relevant.” He gets choked up talking about it but he said that he doesn’t have any regrets and that he made the best case he could.
July 25, 2019. The Bronx. Mrs. Diallo said that she wants the world to know there was this young man named Amadou who wanted to come to the US to succeed and never got the chance. She speaks of Amadou in schools. She shares his story. She said she will never stop talking. That’s her mission.
The Street Crime Unit was disbanded in 2002, after a federal investigation prompted by the shooting of Amadou Diallo, found that the unit engaged in racial profiling. After the verdict, Edward McMellon and Richard Murphy joined the New York City fire department. Sean Carroll and Kenneth Boss returned to the police department, and have since retired. In 2004, the Diallo family settled a civil suit with New York City for $3 million. Kadiatou Diallo started the Amadou Diallo Foundation, which provides community outreach and scholarships for students aspiring to higher education. She continues to speak out and advocate on behalf of families impacted by police-related violence.
Find more info on Black Lives Matter and how to support and donate here:
- https://nymag.com/strategist/article/where-to-donate-for-black-lives-matter.html
- https://www.cnet.com/news/black-lives-matter-books-and-films-to-help-all-ages-learn-about-systemic-racism
- https://www.gq.com/gallery/ways-to-support-black-lives-matter
- https://www.allure.com/story/black-lives-matter-where-to-donate
Listen to these podcasts for more info/resources:
- Pod Save the People
- 1619
- Code Switch
- Throughline by NPR
- First Name Basis with Jasmine Bradshaw (especially the episode about talking to young kids about race)
Hi ladies,
Thank you so much for covering this case. I truly appreciate you using your platform to shed light on the issues the black community has been facing for decades. The fact that you ladies are helping to educate others in this struggle and the injustice poc face is needed. I watched this documentary weeks ago and I was saddened that this was another case of a black man being killed by police. I know not all law enforcement is bad. We as a society have good and bad in all races, colors, creed, genders. It’s just time for a change. We all need to do our part to make this country/world better. We can’t reach everyone, but we can reach the ones around us. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR DOING YOUR PART <3
Ahhh 1000000% agree! LYLAS 💜