They fired on him, apparently, because he was walking in New York and carrying his wallet and a pager.
The case was highly publicized, and people were outraged. Yet, in 2000 the patrol officers, who acknowledged taking each of the 41 shots, were acquitted by a jury in Albany, N.Y., where the trial had been moved to protect the officers constitutional right to a fair trial.
The acquittal raised another round of outrage, including Springsteen's elegaic "41 Shots."
The Boss's musical commentary on the killing of Diallo provoked the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association of New York City to boycott a Springsteen concert in the City in 2000. Kenneth A. Paulson of the Freedom Forum linked the song and the boycott to another constitutional right, that of free speech, in an article published shortly after the concert. The police boycott -- meaning they refused to work security at the concert while they were off duty -- constituted punishment of the speech the officers found offensive, according to Paulson.
Ultimately, the police chief at the time stood up for free speech and urged the officers to provide their expertise in crowd control at Springsteen's concert and those of others who held positions the PBA did not share. If the officers had refused to work the concert while on duty, the boycotters would have been taking an action on behalf of the government, thus actually violating the constitution.
"Everyone's best interests are served when police officers find a way to protest unpalatable speech without punishing it," Paulson wrote.
Ironically, in this first Black History Month in the era of Barack Obama, most of us seem to have forgotten about the 10th anniversary of the needless death of Amadou Diallo. Diallo died Feb. 5, 1999, when four police officers shot him 41 times. No matter how hopeful or preoccupied we are feeling today, or this month, we should remember him and mourn.
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