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UPDATE 12/16/2006
Today, thousands marched in New York City, on 5th Avenue, lead by wheelchair-bound Trent Benefield (one of the survivors of the Police Shooting of Sean Bell last month.

Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre, was also among the marchers, as were U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, city transit union president Roger Toussaint and human rights activist Bianca Jagger. The marchers started at 59th Street and finished their protest more than an hour later outside Macy's on 34th Street.

There's been quite a few protests...the Black Panthers, a protest outside of the NYPD Headquarters by The December 12 Movement (that protest included some gang members...what, do they think they can weasel a 'get out of jail free' card by joining in? These protests should be by and for law-abiding citizens, not card-carrying crooks).

This sad event has even spawned a Wiki entry.

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Or, I could title this post "We're not anti-police ... we're anti-police brutality." That may be the only thing Al Sharpton ever said that I agree with.

The story? Hypertensive New York undercover cops fire 50 rounds into a car (full of unarmed men leaving a bachleor's party), killing the groom, wounding another man with 11 9mm rounds...then hancuffing him to a hospital bed, all of this done without ever having seen a weapon or filing charges.

It should be easy for civilians to expect cops to be correct before shooting. Maybe one or two rounds were justified (even that, now, seems to be a stretch). But 50 rounds? C'mon, that's what the range is for!

One cop was struck by the evil groom's car (after he walked in front of it...you don't usually walk in front of a car, do you?)

"Three officers, including the officer hit by the car, were treated and released. Another detective remained hospitalized for hypertension..."

Yes, I would be nervous too. The other officer, not hit by the car, or nervous stomach? Since the 'suspects' were unarmed, maybe he got hit by a richochet, or flying glass? Lots of that, when 50 rounds are being sprayed on city streets. Or maybe he saw a 92-year-old woman peering at him and was injured trying to chase and subdue her?

The 'Bride' spoke out yesterday (she never got a chance to get married, so she can't be a widow)

"They were murderers, murderers," she said. "They were not officers. No one gives anyone the right to kill somebody."

New York City Mayor Bloomberg also chimed in:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to soothe an upset community on Monday and said bluntly that officers appeared to use "excessive force" when an unarmed man was killed in a storm of police gunfire outside a strip club hours before his wedding.

"I can tell you that it is to me unacceptable or inexplicable how you can have 50-odd shots fired, but that's up to the investigation to find out what really happened," Bloomberg said.

So where does Barney Fife and his one bullet come in?

The 'new' catchphrase I heard yesterday: "Contagious Shooting". Where if one cop starts shooting, guess what? All start shooting.

That's just great. Roaming Execution Firing Squads on Donuts.

Maybe Andy knew what he was doing when he only gave Barney Fife one bullet...