Amadou Diallo (police victim)
Amadou Diallo (born September 2, 1975 in Guinea , † February 4, 1999 in New York City ) was a Guinean immigrant who was shot dead on February 4, 1999 in New York City by four police officers from a street crime department under publicly controversial circumstances has been.
killing
Diallo had come to New York City from London and applied for political asylum . He was selling videotapes , socks, and gloves on the sidewalk .
Early in the morning on February 4, 1999, he stood in front of his apartment building. Four police officers mistook him for a wanted serial rapist and wanted to arrest him. When the police officers spoke to him at his door, he reached into his jacket. The officers assumed he was going to draw a gun and fired at Diallo. The unarmed man was hit by a total of 19 shots; a total of 41 shots were fired at him.
Reactions
The shooting of Diallo caused an uproar in the civil rights movement in the United States . The American civil rights movement criticized above all that Diallo had come into consideration as a perpetrator because of the then still relatively new investigation method of “ profiling ” , a certain “systemic racism ” was accused of this process . The police officers were charged with acting too quickly. This was due to the fact that under the then Mayor of New York City, Rudolph Giuliani , a zero tolerance strategy was pursued, the implementation of which the New York police were subjected to constant performance reviews by the office of the mayor. The heads of the police stations had to present their reconnaissance figures every morning and were relieved if the requirements were not met. This pressure to perform was passed down through the top officials.
Bruce Springsteen wrote the song "American Skin (41 Shots)" about this incident; Living Color , an African American rock formation, covered “American Skin” during a live performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival . Also Wyclef Jean wrote a song entitled "Diallo" on Diallo and the incident, as well as Lauryn Hill , who later wrote a song under the name "I Find it Hard To Say (Rebel)". The hip-hop artists J-Live, Mos Def , Wordsworth, AL & Tame One also wrote a song entitled "A tree never grown" about the incident under the name "Hip Hop for respect". Heavy metal band Trivium also wrote a song called "Contempt Breeds Contamination" about the incident. In the song “Things I've seen” by The Spooks, Amadou Diallo is also referred to. Furthermore, the American band Leftöver Crack mentions the 41 shots in their song "One Dead Cop". There is also “ Don't hang up! "And" 25 hours "an allusion to the 41 shots.
Court hearing
The police officers involved claimed in their defense that they had identified themselves as police officers prior to the arrest. Although they were wearing civilian clothes, their badges were clearly recognizable and they called Diallo's attention to themselves.
A guilty verdict in New York City was followed by a retrial in an appeals court in Albany , in which all officers were acquitted on the grounds that, given the tumult of the public, there was no fair trial in New York City. The appeals court followed the statements of the police officers, who had stated that they had fired solely for fear of attack. The high number of shots fired did not conflict with this information, because the experience from a shootout between FBI agents and two bank robbers supported this information. In the said shootout, two bank robbers with fully automatic weapons shot two FBI agents and seriously injured five others, despite being hit by many bullets themselves. One of these bank robbers was still able to shoot back after 16 body hits, only a seventeenth hit - which went to the head - killed him. In addition, the 41 shots had been fired from four different weapons, which, in the opinion of the court, showed that every officer assumed for himself that Diallo would be fatally hit.
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Diallo, Amadou |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Guinean immigrant |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 2nd September 1975 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Guinea |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 4, 1999 |
| Place of death | New York City |