In the early hours of February 4, 1999, an unarmed 23-year-old
Guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
n student named Amadou Diallo (born September 2, 1975) was fired upon with 41
rounds and shot a total of 19 times by four
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
plainclothes officers: Sean Carroll, Richard Murphy, Edward McMellon, and Kenneth Boss. Carroll would later claim to have mistaken him for a rape suspect from one year earlier.
The four officers, who were part of the now-defunct
Street Crime Unit, were charged with
second-degree murder and acquitted at trial in
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
.
A firestorm of controversy erupted after the event, as the circumstances of the shooting prompted outrage both inside and outside of New York City. Issues such as
police brutality
Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...
,
racial profiling
Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the act of suspecting, targeting or discriminating against a person on the basis of their ethnicity, religion or nationality, rather than on individual suspicion or available evidence. Racial profiling involv ...
, and
contagious shooting
A contagious shooting is a sociological phenomenon observed in military and police personnel, in which one person firing on a target can induce others to begin shooting. Often the subsequent shooters will not know why they are firing, unless they ...
were central to the ensuing controversy.
Early life
Amadou Diallo was one of four children born to Saikou and Kadiatou Diallo, and part of a historic
Fulbe
The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...
trading family in
Guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
. He was born in
Sinoe County
Sinoe is one of Liberia's 15 counties and it has 17 districts. Greenville is the county's capital. As of the 2008 Census, it had a population of 104,932, making it one of the least populous counties in Liberia. Sinoe has the third-largest area ...
in
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
on September 2, 1975, while his father was working there, and while growing up followed his family to
Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
, and back to Guinea. In September 1996, he followed other family members to New York City and started a business with a cousin. According to his family's lawyer he sought to remain in the United States by filing a
political asylum
The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...
application falsely claiming that he was from
Mauritania
Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
and that his parents had been killed in fighting. He sold video cassettes, gloves, and socks on the sidewalk along
14th Street during the day.
Death
In the early morning of February 4, 1999, Diallo was standing near his building after returning from a meal. At about 12:40 a.m., officers Edward McMellon, Sean Carroll, Kenneth Boss and Richard Murphy were looking for an alleged serial rapist in the Soundview section of the Bronx. While driving down Wheeler Avenue, the police officers stopped their unidentified car and interrogated Diallo, who was in front of his apartment. When they ordered Diallo to show his hands, he supposedly ran into the apartment and reached into his pocket to show his wallet.
Soon afterwards, assuming Diallo was drawing a firearm, the four officers fired 41 shots with semi-automatic pistols,
Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Timothy Gladwell (born 3 September 1963) is an English-born Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. He has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' since 1996. He has published seven books: '' The Tipping Point: How Little T ...
. /www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLxYpLXkiVU ''How We Think Without Thinking: Malcolm Gladwell on Great Decision Makers (2005)'' hitting Diallo 19 times, fatally wounding him. Eyewitness Sherrie Elliott stated that the police continued to shoot even though Diallo was already down.
The investigation found no weapons on or near Diallo; what he had pulled out of his jacket was a wallet. The internal NYPD investigation ruled that the officers had acted within policy, based on what a
reasonable police officer would have done in the same circumstances. Nonetheless, the Diallo shooting led to a review of police training policy and of the use of
full metal jacket (FMJ) bullets.
On March 25, 1999, a
Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
grand jury
A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...
indicted
An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of an ...
the four officers on charges of second-degree
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
and reckless endangerment. On December 16, a court ordered a
change of venue
A change of venue is the legal term for moving a trial to a new location. In high-profile matters, a change of venue may occur to move a jury trial away from a location where a fair and impartial jury may not be possible due to widespread publici ...
to
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
because of pretrial publicity. On February 25, 2000, after three days of deliberation, a jury composed of four black and eight white jurors acquitted the officers of all charges.
Aftermath
In April 2000, Diallo's mother and father filed a $61million lawsuit against the city and the officers, charging gross negligence, wrongful death,
racial profiling
Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the act of suspecting, targeting or discriminating against a person on the basis of their ethnicity, religion or nationality, rather than on individual suspicion or available evidence. Racial profiling involv ...
, and other violations of Diallo's civil rights. In March 2004, they accepted a $3 million settlement, one of the largest in the City of New York for a single man with no dependents under New York State's "wrongful death law", which limits damages to financial loss by the deceased person's next of kin.
Anthony H. Gair, representing the Diallo family, argued that
federal common law
Federal common law is a term of United States law used to describe common law that is developed by the federal courts, instead of by the courts of the various states. The United States is the only country to combine the creation of common law do ...
should apply.
In April 2002, as a result of the killing of Diallo and other controversial actions, the
Street Crime Unit was disbanded. In 2003, Diallo's mother published a memoir, ''My Heart Will Cross This Ocean: My Story, My Son, Amadou'', with the help of author
Craig Wolff Craig Wolff is an American journalist and author and a former sports, feature, and news writer for The New York Times. He was a journalism professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a former senior enterprise edit ...
.
Diallo's death became an issue in the 2005
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
mayoral election. Bronx borough president and mayoral candidate
Fernando Ferrer
Fernando James Ferrer (born April 30, 1950) is an American politician who was the borough president of The Bronx from 1987 to 2001. Ferrer was a candidate for mayor of New York City in 1997 and 2001 and was the Democratic Party nominee for may ...
, who had protested against the circumstances of the killing at the time, was criticized by the Diallo family and many others for telling a meeting of police sergeants that although the shooting had been a tragedy, the officers had been "over-indicted".
Officer Kenneth Boss had previously been involved in an incident in which an unarmed black man was shot. After the trial Boss was reassigned to desk duty, but in October 2012,
Commissioner
A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something).
In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...
Raymond W. Kelly
Raymond Walter Kelly (born September 4, 1941) is the longest serving Commissioner in the history of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the first man to hold the post for two non-consecutive tenures. According to its website, Kelly ...
restored Boss's ability to carry a firearm. As of 2012, he was the only one of the four officers still working for the NYPD. In 2015, he was promoted to sergeant in accordance with police policy, which is not subject to review by top department officials. He retired from law enforcement in 2019.
A report from
''Capital New York''[
] reported that 85 IP addresses belonging to the New York Police Department had made changes to
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...
pages about NYPD misconduct and also to articles about people killed in police interventions, including this article. One of these edits changed the statement ''"Officer Kenneth Boss had previously been involved in an incident in which an unarmed man was shot, but continued to work as a police officer"'' to ''"Officer Kenneth Boss was previously involved in an incident in which a man armed was shot.”''
Two policemen associated with these edits were reported to receive only "minor reprimands".
In April 2021, Diallo's mother was interviewed about her reaction to the conviction of
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
police officer
Derek Chauvin
Derek Michael Chauvin ( ; born March 19, 1976) is an American former police officer who was convicted for the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Chauvin was a member of the Minneapolis Police ...
for the
murder of George Floyd
On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...
.
Cultural references to Diallo
Music
*The song "I Know You Don't Care" by
Ziggy Marley
David Nesta "Ziggy" Marley (born 17 October 1968) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, musician, actor and philanthropist. He is the son of reggae icon Bob Marley and Rita Marley. He led the family band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers until 200 ...
,
Bunny Wailer
Neville O'Riley Livingston (10 April 1947 – 2 March 2021), known professionally as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and percussionist. He was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. ...
,
Buju Banton
Mark Anthony Myrie (born 15 July 1973),Larkin, Colin (1998) "The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", Virgin Books, professionally known by his stage name Buju Banton, is a Jamaican reggae dancehall musician. He is considered to be one of the most ...
,
Damian "Junior Gong" Marley
Damian Robert Nesta "Jr. Gong" Marley (born 21 July 1978) is a Jamaican DJ, singer, lyricist and rapper. He is the recipient of four Grammy Awards.
Early life, education and family
Damian Marley is the youngest son of reggae musician Bob Marl ...
,
Morgan Heritage
Morgan Heritage is a Grammy-winning Jamaican reggae band formed in 1994 by five children of reggae artist Denroy Morgan, namely Peter "Peetah" Morgan, Una Morgan, Roy "Gramps" Morgan, Nakhamyah "Lukes" Morgan, and Memmalatel "Mr. Mojo" Morgan. ...
&
Yami Bolo
Rolando Ephraim McLean (born 1 October 1970), better known as Yami Bolo, is a Jamaican reggae singer.
Biography
Yami Bolo grew up in postal zone 13 of Kingston. His first professional job and exposure was with Sugar Minott's Youth Promotion C ...
(2001) is in direct response to the acquittal of the officers accused of murdering Diallo. In the chorus Ziggy Marley sings, "Code of silence you say, yes your actions speak so loud and clear, Diallo's killers going free, Paid by society, And I know you don't care about me."
*Mentioned in the song ‘Senegal’ by Akon.
* Rapper
Fredro Starr
Fred Lee Scruggs Jr. (born April 18, 1971), better known by his stage name Fredro Starr, is an American rapper and actor best known as a member of the hardcore rap group Onyx. Fredro Starr was discovered by the late hip hop star Jam Master Jay of ...
mentioned Diallo in the song “What If”
*The music of rapper
88-Keys
Charles Misodi Njapa (born March 5, 1976), better known by his stage name 88-Keys, is an American record producer and rapper from New York City.
Biography
Born in New York City to West African parents from Cameroon, he was raised in the Eastches ...
;
*
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
's song "
American Skin (41 Shots)
"American Skin (41 Shots)" is a song written by Bruce Springsteen, inspired by the police shooting death of Amadou Diallo. It premiered during the band's 1999–2000 reunion tour in concert in Atlanta on June 4, 2000, the final concert before ...
";
*"Diallo" by
Wyclef Jean
Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, a ...
;
*"
New York City Cops" off
The Strokes
The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio More ...
' debut album ''
Is This It
''Is This It'' is the debut studio album by American rock band the Strokes. It was first released on July 30, 2001, in Australia, with RCA Records handling the release internationally and Rough Trade Records handling the United Kingdom release. I ...
'' had the incident as the inspiration. Singer
Julian Casablancas
Julian Fernando Casablancas (born August 23, 1978) is an American singer, musician and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of Rock music, rock band The Strokes, with whom he has released six studio albums since the ...
revealed that this was a political song influenced by the shooting of Amadou Diallo in a March 2018 ''Vulture'' interview.
*"I Find It Hard to Say (Rebel)" by
Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...
;
*"Lament for the Late AD" by
Terry Callier
Terrence Orlando "Terry" Callier (May 24, 1945 – October 27, 2012) was an American soul music, soul, Folk music, folk and jazz guitarist and singer-songwriter.
Life and career
Callier was born in the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, and was r ...
.
*The
Public Enemy
"Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe p ...
album ''
There's a Poison Goin' On
''There's a Poison Goin' On'' is the seventh studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released July 20, 1999 on Atomic Pop Records in the United States. Its title is adapted from the title of Sly & the Family Stone's album ''There's a ...
'' features a song titled "41:19" based on the number of rounds fired at and striking Diallo and contains lyrics concerning police harassment and violence.
*The song "W.O.L.V.E.S." by Krumbsnatcha and
M.O.P.
M.O.P. (short for Mash Out Posse) is an American hip hop duo composed of East Coast rappers Billy Danze and Lil' Fame. The song " Ante Up", was released on their ''Warriorz'' album in 2000. The group has frequently collaborated with DJ Premi ...
, which appeared on the soundtrack for the 2001 film ''
Training Day
''Training Day'' is a 2001 American crime thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by David Ayer. It stars Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris and Ethan Hawke as Jake Hoyt, two LAPD narcotics officers over a 24-hour period in the gang- ...
'' ("What happened to Diallo was a muthafuckin' shame").
*Electro pop band
Le Tigre
Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American electronic rock band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson for the rest ...
lamented the Diallo shooting in their song "Bang! Bang!", which ends with a vocal chorus counting numbers that ends with 41, the number of shots fired.
*In his song "The Other White Meat", which deals with police brutality and racism, New York rapper
Immortal Technique
Felipe Andres Coronel (born February 19, 1978), better known by the stage name Immortal Technique, is an American rapper. Most of his lyrics focus on controversial issues in global politics, from a radical left-wing perspective.
Immortal Techn ...
tells the police "I got 41 reasons to tell you to suck a dick" and "Guns don't look like wallets", clearly referencing the shooting and counting every bullet fired as a reason.
*The incident was briefly mentioned by rapper
Heems
Himanshu Kumar Suri (born July 6, 1985), better known by his stage name Heems, is an American rapping, rapper from Queens in New York City. Best known for being part of the alternative hip hop group Das Racist, Suri is also the founder of Greedh ...
in his song "WOYY": "Diallo got shot when he said the block was hot" and again in his song "NYC Cops" from his 2012 mixtape
Nehru Jackets
''Nehru Jackets'' is the first solo mixtape by rapper Himanshu. It was released on Himanshu's own Greedhead label on January 17, 2012.
''Rolling Stone'' named the song "Womyn" the 36th best song of 2012.
About
Himanshu released ''Nehru Jacke ...
: "
Ousmane Zongo
Ousmane Zongo ( – May 22, 2003) was a Burkinabé arts trader living in the United States who was shot and killed by Brian Conroy, a New York City Police Department officer during a warehouse raid on May 22, 2003. Zongo was not armed. Conroy ...
in '03, Diallo in '99, I swear this shit happened like ninety times."
*The piece "Amadou Diallo", included in the album ''
Ethnic Stew and Brew'' by jazz trumpeter
Roy Campbell, Jr.
Roy Sinclair Campbell Jr. (September 29, 1952 – January 9, 2014) was an American trumpeter frequently linked to free jazz, although he also performed rhythm and blues and funk during his career.
Biography
Born in Los Angeles, California, in 19 ...
, was inspired by the shooting, ending with a rapid burst of notes replicating the 41 gunshots.
[Hendrickson, Tad. ''Ethnic Stew and Brew'', Original Liner Notes.]
*The incident also served as the basis for
Erykah Badu
Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the ...
's track "A.D. 2000" (the abbreviation standing for Diallo's initials), from the album ''Mama's Gun''. Rather than singing a condemnation of the NYPD, as had most other artists who were incensed by the event, Badu chose to sing an elegy which, while noting the tragedy of Diallo's killing, also observes the furor over the circumstances, which she viewed as likely to be temporary: "No you won't be namin' no buildings after me/To go down dilapidated ooh/No you won't be namin' no buildings after me/My name will be misstated, surely".
*In his album ''
The Beautiful Struggle
''The Beautiful Struggle'' is the second studio album by American rapper Talib Kweli. The album was released on September 28, 2004, by Rawkus Records and Geffen Records. The album features guest appearances such as Common, Faith Evans, Anthony Ham ...
'',
Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with ...
speaks of "Brother Amadou as
..a modern day martyr." Kweli makes further reference to the shooting in his song "
The Proud": "It's in they job description to terminate the threat/So 41 shots to the body is what he can expect".
*The underground rap artist Milo referenced Amadou quoting, "Surrounded by Anglos in Almelo, thinkin 'bout Amadou Diallo"
*The metal band
Trivium
The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric.
The trivium is implicit in ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but the ...
wrote the song Contempt Breeds Contamination from their third album
The Crusade about Diallo's death.
*
Emawk has a song titled "Amadou.jpg" on his EP "Ifievercantmakeit.Jpg"
*
Action Bronson
Ariyan Arslani (born December 2, 1983), professionally known as Action Bronson, is an American rapper, songwriter, chef, wrestler, exotic olive oil taster, and television presenter. Born and raised in Queens, New York, he embarked on his musical ...
has a song entitled "Amadu Diablo" from his mix tape "Blue Chips 2"
*The killing is referenced in
Mischief Brew
Mischief Brew was an American folk punk band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania consisting of vocalist and guitarist Erik Petersen, bassist Shawn St. Clair, and drummers Christopher Petersen and Christopher Kulp. The band played DIY folk punk and an ...
's song "Thanks, Bastards!" with lines like "For every time your gun goes off, a new rebel is born / So when there's 41 bullets / There's 41 thousand thorns in your side" and "Found a wallet, not a gun."
*The phrase "Mom, I'm going to college" is attributed as Amadou Diallo's last words, featured in the third movement of Joel Thompson's seven-movement cantata
Seven Last Words of the Unarmed.
*Turkish rapper
Saian referenced the killing on his
protest rap
A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one.
Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...
track "Feleğin Çemberine 40 Kurşun" (english: "40 bullets to the circle of fortune") by saying " Adım Amadou Diallo, tam on dokuz kurşun yedim. Yargısız infaz gördüm, çünkü ben bir göçmenim." (english: My name is Amadou Diallo, I took nineteen bullets. I've had an extrajudicial execution because I'm an immigrant.")
*
Tobe Nwigwe
Tobechukwu Dubem "Tobe" Nwigwe (born March 8, 1987) is an American rapper, singer and actor. As of 2022, Nwigwe co-stars in the Netflix television series '' Mo'' and received a nomination for Best New Artist at the 65th Grammy Awards.
Persona ...
's song "Father Figure" features a verse from
Royce da 5'9"
Ryan Daniel Montgomery, known professionally as Royce da 5'9" (or simply Royce 5'9"), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Montgomery is currently one half of the rap duo Bad Meets Evil with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, and ...
referencing the killing with the line "Probably pop a cop or two to honor
Breonna Taylor
Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot in her Louisville, Kentucky apartment on March 13, 2020, when at least seven police officers forced entry into the apartment as part of an investigation into drug dealing op ...
and Amadou Diallo".
*Italian dub-reggae-rocksteady band Africa Unite have written a song entitled "Forty-One Bullets" in their 2022 album "Non È Fortuna" strictly related to the Amadou Diallo killing.
Film
*In 2000, a group of human rights organizations completed ''The Day After Diallo'', a short video about police violence against people of color in the context of the killing of Amadou Diallo. The video was co-produced by
WITNESS
In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...
, New York City PoliceWatch and
The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights is a non-profit strategy and action center based in Oakland, California. The stated aim of the center is to work for justice, opportunity and peace in urban America.
It is named for Ella Baker, a twentieth-c ...
.
* In the 2002 film ''
Phone Booth
A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; usually the user steps into the booth and closes the booth ...
'', the caller (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland) warns the main character Stu (played by Colin Farrell) not to move, telling him "you can get shot 41 times just for pulling out your wallet".
Visual arts
*A drawing by
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman (; born Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman on February 15, 1948) is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines ''Arcade (comics maga ...
showing a police officer at a shooting gallery with a banner reading "41 shots 10¢" was featured on the cover of
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
on March 8, 1999. 250 police officers picketed the magazine's headquarters in response.
Television
*In Law & Order, Season 13, Episode 7, “Open Season”, where an alleged cop-shooter is acquitted, Detective Ed Green references the killing as follows: “Yeah, well, you tell that to Amadou Diallo’s family…this whole blue wall thing, dinosaur.”
*In NYPD Blue, Season 6, Episode 20, "I'll Draw You A Map".
* Is covered in the bbc documentary by Louis Theroux ‘weird weekends- black nationalism’
Literature
* The case is mentioned in
Charlie Huston
Charlie Huston is a novelist and TV writer. His twelve novels span several genres from crime to horror to science fiction. His books have been published in English by Ballentine, Del Rey, Mulholland and Orion, and translated into nine other lang ...
's debut novel ''Caught Stealing'' in Part Three, the first chapter, where innocent men "get the Amadou Diallo treatment".
Poetry
* The poe
"Marionette"by poet
Ross Gay is dedicated to Diallo and describes his shooting.
See also
*
American Skin (41 Shots)
"American Skin (41 Shots)" is a song written by Bruce Springsteen, inspired by the police shooting death of Amadou Diallo. It premiered during the band's 1999–2000 reunion tour in concert in Atlanta on June 4, 2000, the final concert before ...
* ''
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking''
*
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
*
Killing of Jayland Walker
On June 27, 2022, at approximately 12:30 a.m., Akron, Ohio, police officers shot Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old American from Akron. Following a traffic stop and car chase, footage showed an officer saying that Walker’s car is slowing down ...
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New York City Police Department corruption and misconduct
Throughout the history of the New York City Police Department, numerous instances of corruption and misconduct, and allegations of such, have occurred. Over 12,000 cases have resulted in lawsuit settlements totaling over $400 million during a ...
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Police brutality
Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...
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Police brutality in the United States
Police brutality is the repression by personnel affiliated with law enforcement when dealing with suspects and civilians. The term is also applied to abuses by "corrections" personnel in municipal, state, and federal prison camps, including mi ...
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Racial profiling
Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the act of suspecting, targeting or discriminating against a person on the basis of their ethnicity, religion or nationality, rather than on individual suspicion or available evidence. Racial profiling involv ...
References
External links
Kadi Diallo's Trial TedConover.com
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/archive.org/details/WITNESS_B00015 "The Day After Diallo" (Short film)*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diallo, Amadou
New York City Police Department corruption and misconduct
Deaths by firearm in the Bronx
Deaths by person in New York City
1999 in New York City
Crimes in the Bronx
History of the Bronx
Police brutality in the United States
February 1999 events in the United States
Soundview, Bronx
1990s in the Bronx
Black Lives Matter
Law enforcement controversies in the United States