NEW YORK (CNN) -- The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee
on Monday met with the family of a man fatally shot by police just
hours before his wedding, promising a thorough federal investigation of
the incident. Three New York police detectives were acquitted Friday on all
counts in the case of Sean Bell, an unarmed man killed in a hail of 50
police bullets outside a strip club on November 25, 2006. Bell's two
friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, were wounded in the
shooting. "We are going to be putting together the federal
strategy," said Rep. John Conyers, the chairman of the House Judiciary
Committee and a Michigan Democrat. "This is important." "We want
to make sure that justice is served and that a message is sent out, not
just to law enforcement but to the young people of this country, that
these kinds of tragedies have to end in this country," he said.The Justice Department said it was conducting an independent
investigation to determine if the trio's civil rights were violated.The Detectives Endowment Association, the union representing Detectives
Gescard Isnora, Michael Oliver and Marc Cooper, said they were trying
to set up a meeting with Conyers as well because they believe the
committee should "hear both sides of the story." "That's what's fair to the detectives and the American people," said Michael Palladino, president of the association.Bell's family, the New York chapter of the NAACP and civil rights
activist the Rev. Al Sharpton condemned the verdicts on Friday, with
Sharpton calling the rulings "an abortion of justice." Watch Sharpton vow to pursue the case » SOURCE: CNN.COM