Sharpton, Community Groups Plan Demonstrations

The Reverend Al Sharpton joined local labor unions and community groups last night to hash out plans for mass demonstrations against the acquittal of three detectives who killed Sean Bell, an unarmed black man.

Efforts to hold a national boycott starting May 19 in protest of the not guilty verdict are also apparently in the works, with an anonymous e-mail message calling for a weeklong boycott making the rounds of the Internet yesterday. Rev. Sharpton has led the calls for protests in the wake of the not guilty verdict, and has also been pushing federal prosecutors to bring a civil rights case against the police.