March 29, 1999
Web posted at: 8:27 PM EST (0127 GMT)

Protests outside NYPD headquarters end

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Four police officers charged with killing unarmed African immigrant Amadou Diallo will be arraigned Wednesday afternoon in State Supreme Court, according to Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson.

Defense attorneys were formally notified Monday of the sealed indictment facing their clients -- officers Sean Carroll, Edward McMellon, Kenneth Boss and Richard Murphy.

On February 4, they allegedly fired 41 shots at Diallo in the vestibule of his apartment building, hitting him 19 times.

The officers, members of the NYPD's elite street crimes unit, were on undercover patrol looking for a serial rapist in the Bronx neighborhood where Diallo lived.

One defense attorney has said the officers thought Diallo resembled a sketch of the alleged rapist.

The officers were expected to surrender into police custody Wednesday morning, said James Culleton, one of the defense attorneys.

While the attorneys cannot confirm the details of the indictment, law enforcement sources have told CNN the grand jury voted to charge the officers with second-degree murder, punishable by 25 years to life in prison.

With news of the arraignments, three weeks of protests outside NYPD headquarters came to an end Monday.

Protesters outside NYPD headquarters last week

Police arrested another 166 people for disorderly conduct for blocking the entrance to the building, bringing the total number of people arrested to 1,175 during 15 days of demonstrations.

"We said we'd be here. Why here? Because we wanted to show the world they would arrest non-violent protesters and not even question violent police," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, the main protest organizer.

The accused officers, who remain on desk duty, chose not to testify before the grand jury. Their attorneys have said officers are allowed to fire their weapons if they believe their lives are in danger, suggesting a possible defense when the case goes to trial.