But that is another topic. Shortly after midnight, February 4, 1999, in the vestibule of his home, the unarmed Amadou Diallo was struck by 19 of 41 bullets shot by four New York City police officers who had mistaken him for a suspect they were trailing. A rather big mistake, admittedly. One that has since incited riots and protests that continue to this day, over a year later.

I'm sure it has crossed everyone's mind by this point that had Diallo been the actual suspect, this may have been considered a job well done. One so routine that it probably wouldn't have made the nightly news. One that would have merely closed an open case in a small precinct somewhere and life – or is that lives – would have moved on. In fact, enough closed cases could have racked up by this point that the four officers may have been facing raises and promotions rather than threats, trials and possible life sentences.

But it simply wasn't meant to be.

February 25, 2000, after a month-long trial in Albany, New York, all four officers were acquitted of all charges brought in Diallo's defense including murder, manslaughter, and reckless endangerment. And, needless to say, protests took to the streets.

We know, despite the jury's findings, these men's lives have been shattered. For we have each made up our own mind and will individually judge them henceforth accordingly.

On the one hand, some say it's odd that we blame the officers at all for what may have been quite simply and quite tragically Diallo's big mistake. For reasons that will be forever unknown, Diallo failed to heed the officers' order to halt, ultimately causing a routine police stop-and-question to escalate into the shooting. Furthermore, Diallo reached into his pocket – a clear signal to a police officer that the breath he just took may have been his last. And as if that isn't enough to add to the mere seconds of life-threatening turmoil, one of the officers fell off a step causing the other three to believe he had been shot.

Split-second life-or-death decisions made by a few have resulted in protests by the thousands. We have no way of knowing how we would have reacted under the circumstances because most of us don't have the stamina to put ourselves in such circumstances. We leave that to the brave and loyal few and yet we feel justified in judging them. Each of the thousands of protestors walk the streets of New York every day in relative safety because of the rare few who put themselves in danger – daily. A rare few who wake each morning with the intent to solve a crime, not commit one. In order to keep the masses – you and me – safe.

Of course, on the other hand, it cannot be ignored or forgotten that they fired 41 shots at an unarmed man. 41. An unthinkable amount. A bizarre amount. A tragic amount. An amount that continues to taunt us, frighten us, confuse us, a full year later. An amount that causes us to question who polices the police. An amount that brings the country's already overly heated racial tension again to the fore. An amount that adds fuel to the fire of current political agendas. And an amount that adds to the general unrest of humanity.

If nothing else, the name Diallo causes us to reflect on this unrest. For in the midst of it, we find ourselves remembering that, for better or worse, unrest is inherent to humanity. Regardless of what current politicians may claim in their efforts to trounce each other during Campaign 2000, we cannot overcome unrest. Where there is individual diversity, there is individual unrest. It is the spice of life, our individuality, and it will forever remain both our blessing and our curse.

Mr. Diallo, in his death, gently and ceaselessly reminds us.

March 2000