On this date in 1999, Amadou Diallo was killed by four New York City police officers from the NYPD Street Crime Unit.
He was from the village of Sinoe, Liberia, West Africa. That evening after midnight, Diallo had come home from work to his apartment at 1157 Wheeler Avenue in the Soundview Section of the Bronx and decided to go back out to get something to eat.
When he returned, he encountered NYPD police officers that ultimately fired a total of 41 shots, 19 of which perforated his body. Diallo died in the entrance hall of his apartment.
Protests and marches to get justice for Diallo spread across the city and eventually the country, but to no avail, with all four officers getting acquitted of Diallo’s murder.
As the issue of police brutality continues to plague this country, we will never forget the innocent victims that lost their lives in the struggle for freedom, justice and equality.
