Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) called for police accountability in the wake of the acquittal of three New York detectives who shot an unarmed man the night before his wedding, reports NY1.
Meeks, who represents parts of Queens, said that the judge’s decision in the Sean Bell case should not be “the end of the quest for justice.”
“We who are members of the United States Congress must realize and utilize our legislative powers and the moral authorities of our offices, to help the victims of unwarranted and excessive use of force seek and redress grievances at a federal level,” Meeks said.
Meeks and Rangel appeared in a forum on police-community relations in Manhattan with House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.), who has promised a federal probe into the shooting.
The three detectives, who were part of a group of five involved in the shooting, said they believed Bell was trying to run them down with his car outside of a strip club.