DIALLO: NO FEDERAL CHARGES FOR COPS

NEW YORK -- Four white police officers cleared in the shooting death of an
African immigrant in a hail of 41 bullets will not face federal civil
rights charges, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

The officers were acquitted of murder and other state charges last year in
the slaying of Amadou Diallo, 22, who was gunned down two years ago outside
his Bronx apartment in what the policemen testified was a tragic error.

The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Mary Jo
White of Manhattan investigated the possibility of federal charges.

"The evidence ... does not provide a basis for bringing federal criminal
charges," White said. "Mr. Diallo's death was a terrible tragedy, and our
hearts will always be with the members of his family for their unbearable
loss."

The Diallo family received news of the decision directly from White.

"This is another tragedy for me and my family," said Diallo's father,
Saikou Diallo. "There is no doubt in my mind that what happened to Amadou
was a crime."

Diallo was black, and his slaying by four white undercover officers on Feb.
4, 1999, heightened racial tensions.

The plainclothes officers -- members of an elite street-crime unit -- were
searching for a rape suspect when they stopped Diallo outside his home.
Diallo was shot when he reached for his wallet; the officers said they
believed he was going for a gun.

The Diallo family and many of their supporters had hoped for a federal
civil rights prosecution of the officers.

Attorneys for the officers said the decision not to prosecute brings the
case to an end for their clients, all of whom -- Kenneth Boss, Sean
Carroll, Edward McMellon and Richard Murphy -- remain on the force.

"It's a decision that's right on the law and right on the facts," said
Steven Brounstein, Boss' lawyer. "It was a tragic accident."

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani declined to comment on the decision.

The Diallo family still has an $81 million lawsuit against the city, its
last legal recourse in the case.

The Rev. Al Sharpton said at a news conference with the family that the
Diallos would press forward with the lawsuit. The officers "cannot hide now
behind faulty and fake prosecutions," Sharpton said.

Federal civil rights prosecutions following state acquittals are rare. In
the Diallo case, authorities would have had to prove the officers violated
Diallo's civil rights by intentionally using excessive force.

In California, the four white Los Angeles police officers charged in the
videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King were acquitted of most
charges in state court in 1992, touching off riots that left 54 people
dead. The officers were eventually convicted of federal civil rights charges.

The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan has a separate investigation under
way into police training and practices, especially by the street-crime unit.

The Diallo family, in its lawsuit, claims that the officers used
unnecessary force and that the shooting resulted from racial profiling
sanctioned by the police department.