Amadou Diallo.Photo:Richard Harbus/Getty
Richard Harbus/Getty
Diallo was unarmed and had no criminal record.
His death sparked public outrage and protests, putting a spotlight on police brutality against people of color. During the protests that followed, numerous public figures were arrested, including Rev. Jesse Jackson and Former United States Representative Charles Rangel, who blocked the police headquarters entrance in protest.
Officers Sean Carroll, then 36, Edward McMellon, then 26, Kenneth Boss, then 27, and Richard Murphy, then 26, were arrested and charged with second-degree murder in connection with Diallo’s death.
The officers were members of the NYPD’s Street Crime Unit (SCU) and on the night Diallo was killed, they were told to search for a serial rapist in the Bronx, who was described as Black. According to PEOPLE’s 1999 reporting, the lawyers for the officers claimed that Diallo didn’t respond to their questioning and reached in his back pocket, which made them believe he was reaching for a gun. Carroll yelled, “Gun!” and all four officers opened fire on Diallo. The lawyers claimed Carroll then attempted CPR and realized Diallo was unarmed with only his wallet in his pocket.
Diallo’s parents, Saikou Diallo and Kadiatou Diallo, traveled from Guinea to New York City after learning of their son’s killing. In the months following his death, the SCU officers wereordered to wear uniforms.
On February 25, 2000,the four officers were found not guiltyof all charges.
Former Mayor David N. Dinkins spoke out against the verdict, saying “This will send the wrong message to those members of the Street Crime Unit who walk around saying, “We own the night,' " a reference to the SCU’s self-styled slogan,TheNew York Timesreported in 2000.
Saikou called the not guilty verdicts the “second killing” of his son, theTimesreported.
The following year, theDepartment of Justicedeclined to pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against the officers on the grounds that the DOJ “could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers willfully deprived Mr. Diallo of his constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force.”
Demonstrators protesting the killing of Amadou Diallo.Andrew Holbrooke/Getty
Andrew Holbrooke/Getty
In Jan. 2004, Diallo’s family received a $3 million settlement after filing a civil rights lawsuit against New York City and the officers, theTimesreported. In the settlement, the department did not admit any wrongdoing. The SCU was disbanded in 2002.
According to theTimes, the family initially sought $20 million in compensatory damages and $41 million in punitive damages. At the time of the 2004 report, McMellon and Murphy were working for the fire department and Boss and Carroll were still with the NYPD. In 2019, Boss retired from the department,The Daily News of Newburyportreported.
Kadiatou toldNY1 in 2019that her son “believed in America” and “dreamed of succeeding here.”
“If he was alive today, I know he would be a parent, he would be an entrepreneur, he would be helping people,” she added.
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In 2021, Kadiatou spoke withPIX 11afterDerek Chauvinwas convicted of murderingGeorge Floydin Minneapolis.
“There’s no time for celebration,” Kadiatou told the outlet. “There’s time for work. To put in the work that needed to be done, so we can stop seeing these cases time and time again.”
Amadou Diallo’s parents Saikou and Kadiatou Diallo.David Handschuh/NY Daily News Archive/Getty
David Handschuh/NY Daily News Archive/Getty
The foundation, which provides scholarship aid to incoming college students, was created in Diallo’s memory and in part because of the last words he ever spoke to his mother: “Mom, I’m going to college.”
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source: people.com
