On this day, Feb. 4, in 1999, unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo was shot dead by four plainclothes New York City police officers on an unrelated stakeout, inflaming race relations in the city. All four officers said they approached Diallo, 22, because they thought he fit the description of a man wanted in a rape case. When Diallo pulled out his wallet, the officers mistook it for a gun and fired 41 shots at the immigrant in front of his home. The killing set off massive protests across the city, and increased frictions between minority leaders and the administration of Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Critics complained about police brutality, racial profiling and contagious shooting.
The officers were charged with second-degree murder, but were acquitted by a jury in Albany.
Scott McCabe
