No Civil Rights Charges for Police in Diallo Case
By SUSAN SACHS
Justice Department officials said yesterday that they would not prosecute the four New York City police officers who shot Amadou Diallo to death two years ago, closing the criminal phase of a racially charged case that provoked a citywide debate on aggressive police tactics.
Mary Jo White, the United States attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement that the officers did not fire at Mr. Diallo "with the specific intent to use unreasonable force." Without evidence of intent, she added, federal civil rights charges were unwarranted.
Acting Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. issued a statement in Washington supporting Ms. White's conclusion, adding that Mr. Diallo's death was nevertheless "tragic" and unnecessary.
The officers were acquitted of criminal charges in Mr. Diallo's death last year in a state trial that was moved to Albany to escape the public anger and political passions still simmering in New York City.
The decision came 11 months after that verdict and barely two weeks into a new administration in Washington. A senior government official said that former Attorney General Janet Reno had signed off on the decision before she left office nearly two weeks ago, but delayed the announcement for fear it would ignite protests at the Bush inauguration....
[The full article is available at <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/01/nyregion/01DIAL.html?pagewanted=all>.]