[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 21 (Wednesday, March 1, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   OUTRAGE OVER THE SHOOTING AND VERDICT IN THE CASE OF AMADOU DIALLO

  (Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my outrage over the 
shooting and subsequent verdict in the case of Amadou Diallo, Mr. 
Diallo, an innocent young African immigrant who came to the United 
States aspiring for a better life. Plainclothes officers who belong to 
an overaggressive street crime unit were supposed to be looking for an 
armed rapist.
  Mr. Speaker, was that rapist Amadou Diallo? No. He was simply a black 
man going home after a long day's work. The officers approached Amadou, 
and what happened is not completely clear. But in the end, the unarmed 
young man's body lay in front of his vestibule caught in a hailstorm of 
41 bullets.
  The reason, the police said, they thought that a wallet was a gun; 
although he was left-handed, and the wallet was not anywhere near the 
left hand. A senseless death. But what is even more disturbing was the 
jury's verdict, which acquitted all the officers of all charges, 
ranging from second-degree murder to negligent homicide.
  Mr. Speaker, let me say we must call upon the Justice Department to 
investigate this case so that the deepening fear between minorities and 
the police who are supposed to protect them will end.

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