Amadou Dialou

Amadou Dialou was a West African immigrant to the United States, living in New York City. Four police officers saw him in the vestibule of his apartment building, thought he resembled a suspect they were seeking, and attempted to arrest him. He (as far as can be reconstructed) did not understand their orders, and reached for an object. The police, mistakenly thinking he had a weapon, opened fire. They fired a total of 41 bullets, of which 19 hit Dialou, some of them after he was lying on the ground. (The object, found on his corpse, was a beeper.)

Dialou's death heightened racial tensions in New York City. The officers who killed him were indicted, tried, and acquitted (in Albany, New York; their lawyers argued that they could not get a fair trial in New York City).