Dec 23, 2006 3:39 pm US/Eastern
Sharpton Dismisses Report That Bell Was Drunk
NEW YORK (AP) ―
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Rev. Al Sharpton questiond how much the undercover police might have been drinking. He says the public doesn't know if they were impaired by alcohol or not. (File)
Stephen Chernin/Getty Images
Supporters of police shooting victim Sean Bell say that a report that he was drunk behind the wheel of his car when police fired 50 shots at him is irrelevant.
The Reverend Al Sharpton told The Associated Press this morning that there was no shooting by any of the victims, including Bell.
He says their judgment one way or another is irrelevant because "they didn't do anything."
Two other men were wounded while sitting in the car outside a Queens strip club after Bell's bachelor party hours before his wedding. None was armed.
Yesterday, law enforcement officials told the AP that Bell's blood had tested well above the 0.08 percent blood-alcohol limit in New York. A lawyer for Bell's parents, Neville Mitchell, says Bell was not charged with drunk driving.
This morning, Sharpton told the AP that the question is how much the undercover police might have been drinking? He says the public doesn't know if they were impaired by alcohol or not.
Police officials say the two undercover officers working inside the Kalua Cabaret were allowed to have two drinks each.
Bell was killed last month outside the club. Lawyers for the officers say they were convinced Bell and his friends were going to retrieve a gun from his car. When one of the officers approached the car, it lurched forward and bumped him, then rammed into a police van as the bullets flew.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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