Amadou Diallo

After Fatal Shooting, Bronx Assemblyman Emerges as a Critic of the Police 

JONATHAN P. HICKS / New York Times 16feb1999

It was early on the morning after the shooting of a West African immigrant that Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr. received a call from the commander of a police precinct in his district in the South Bronx.

"The first thing I asked was whether a police officer had been hit," said Mr. Diaz, whose sister is an officer assigned to the precinct, the 43d. "But then they told me what had happened."

Since hearing that the immigrant, Amadou Diallo, had been killed in a barrage of 41 bullets fired by four New York City police officers, a number of elected officials have been vehement in their reaction to the shooting. But few have been more outspoken and visible than Mr. Diaz, a two-term Assembly-man who represents the Soundview and Hunts Point sections of the Bronx.

Mr. Diaz has appeared with the parents of Mr. Diallo, speaking passionately about his contention that young black and Hispanic men are disproportionately targeted for abuse by the police. He has met with the Bronx District Attorney and has asked the United States Attorney, Mary Jo White, for Federal assistance in the investigation.

And he has introduced legislation in the Assembly that would bar what is known as the 48-hour rule from future contracts with the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association. The rule, which gives police officers two busness days to consuls with union lawyers before they speak to investigators, was not invoked in the Diallo case because it applies only when the department pursues administrative charges.

What has fueled his own passions about the Diallo case, Mr. Diaz said, is that the shooting took place in his district, a half-mile from his home and three blocks from his Assembly office. But also, Mr. Diaz said he has come to feel something of a kinship with a man he had never met, the 22-year-old from Guinea.

"After I spoke with the commander, I went to the scene of the shooting," Mr. Diaz said. "It was sickening to see all the bullet holes."

He added that since those first few hours after the shooting, he has spoken at great length with Mr. Diallo's relatives and friends "I have felt that I have come to know this young man and to love him." he said. "And I have come to realize that although I am a Puerto Rican man and he is from Africa, the only difference between us was the half-mile distance between his home and mine. We're in the same generation, and if it happened to him. it could happen to me or anyone in my community."

Mr. Diaz was elected to the Assembly three years ago, in the aftermath of a feud between his predecessor. Pedro G. Espada. and the Bronx Democratic Party organization. The son of the Rev. Ruben Diaz, a Pentacostal minister who ran unsuccessfully for the City Council. the Assembly and the State Senate. Mr. Diaz developed an interest in politics as a child through viewing the campaigns of his father.

Although he was once an outsider to the Bronx's party organization. Mr. Diaz was ultimately embraced by Assemblyman Roberto Ramirez, the Bronx Democratic Party chairman and was elected to the Assembly at 22 He won re-election last year after a decisive victory in the Democratic primary. Mr. Diaz. who is married and has two young sons, is pursuing a bachelor's degree in political science at Lehman College.

As a result of his role in the Diallo case, some politicians have accused Mr. Diaz of using rhetoric bordering on the inflammatory in his criticism of the police But Mr. Diaz said that he has been measured in his remarks and that he gives high marks to the overwhelming majority of police officers in New York City.

Nonetheless. as a 25-year-old Hispanic resident of the South Bronx. Mr. Diaz said that he was qualified to discuss the interaction of the police with young black and Hispanic New Yorkers.

"Most police officers are doing a good job." he said. "But what I've been saying is that I see a pattern where the victims of aggressive police conduct have been black and Latino young men. It has even happened to me."

The Assemblyman is gaining admirers in some quarters. "I have been impressed with him in this situation," said the Rev. Al Sharpton. who has been advising the Diallo family "He has not been afraid to advocate for the people he represents both in the streets and in the legislative chambers"

In response to his critics, Mr. Diaz said, ''I'm not calling for people to retaliate. We just want justice in this case I feel that if I don't come out strongly in a situation like this, then my community would deserve another representative.

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photo: Chang W Lee The New York Times

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• Top Officials In Guinea Meet Plane Carrying Peddler's Body - New York Times 16feb1999