Last night Nicole Paultre and Al Sharpton were on Larry King Live. He’s not someone I would ever watch, but I got caught up in the hype, “Grieving fiance to give her first television interview.. next.. next.. next.” So you do the ol channel flip thing: Laker game on one button, Larry King on the other. It’s an hour long show but five minutes into the thing IA_A?A?m asking myself, why did he invite her on the show?

Sean Bell’s funeral was held on Saturday, Nicole Paultre wore her wedding ring last night, her fiance was buried wearing his. That was the kind of detail that Larry King was less interested in, he seemed to expect her to be irate, outraged, spitting at the camera 2pac style screaming, f-ck the poo-poo, I don’t can’t care about no po-po! Oh wait, that’s Madea.

Seriously, Larry King tried every angle to get a rise out of her..

So there was this raucous bachelor party, did you know about it..  did you know it would last so late into the night?.. Has this changed your view of the cops ..do you dislike the cops?.. Police said they would stay in contact with you throughout the investigation, have you heard from them? .. Wait.. umm, you did?!?!

Nicole speaks: “I don’t believe it’s changed my view of the police, it’s about the individual, the individual that made this happen.”

Al Sharpton added that Nicole has officers in her family and what’s all this stuff about a raucous party?

“This young man, and I wish his whole family could have been here, comes from a praying mother, his father’s a member of the church, comes from a solid family. Her family’s solid. There was no raucous party. They were at a club. His father was with him having a bachelor party among other people that were at the club. If there was some raucous behavior they were not involved at all. There may have been a disturbance but it had nothing do with these three young men.”

Police have the surveillance tape from the club, if it said otherwise, I’m sure it would be on the news already.

The great thing about the interview was that Nicole is nothing like a ghetto pigeon. You know the person the stations find entertaining enough for the 11 o’clock news.

That would be disastrous for any justice in this case.

Her calmness, perceived satisfaction and lack of A_A?A?angerA_A?A? during the interview was exactly what Larry King was not expecting. Late in the interview he asked her with a frown that may be permanently etched on his face.. not to be rude but.. “You donA_A?A?t seem that angry.”

Having had time to deal with Sean Bell’s death, including the funeral and the sudden empty spot in her heart, there’s a numb shock that also exists which elicits responses like.. “I just want justice” and the sense of reality which makes you smile through the roughness.. even on TV.. “I have to be strong for my girls.”

50 Shots!. How many? 50..

With the time off I never got to talk about the actual shooting. I initially reserved judgment on either side because there was evidence that the driver rammed the cop’s cars. Why would they do that? Either they’ve been playing too much GTA or the cops didn’t identify themselves. While you still let it play out I have my opinion.

What they saw was a guy - not a cop - with his gun drawn and cars pulling in front of and back of them. First response if you’re in a running car and a gun is in your face would be to hit the gas pedal. That prompts the cop to shoot, they gas it again trying to get away from the gunshots.. and that prompts more shots from the cops hopping out of vans.

There was a newspaper story that quoted an eyewitness saying they heard someone in the car say that they had a gun.

No gun was found in the car, which was the point Al Sharpton made last night. Why would they say they had a gun if there was no gun found in the car and with the windows up, how did this unknown person hear it.. and when,. .between shot 20 or 25?

Nicole Paultre said she spoke to one of his friends who are still in the hospital, he said they thought they were being carjacked, which is the only thing that makes sense.

I’ve had two situations where cops have had their guns drawn and ready to fire. Once it was in a car, luckily.. which sounds crazy.. lucky..  they were in uniform and a shotgun pointed through a window, that’ll freeze you up quick. What’s the problem officer.. donuts not fresh tonight?

In uniform or undercover with badges swinging (my first incident) you’re going to put the hands up, stop or get out the car. Sean Bell’s case is clearly a case of non-identification and cops - who were of mixed races - overreacting to the situation.

With the first officer admitting to drinking in the club and the first one to shoot.. he needs to lose his badge. A jail term isn’t going to happen for anyone involved. It doesn’t reek of Amadu Dialo because the car ramming prompted the first shot.. which gives them something to explain to a jury. Not to say that it’s grounds for a one-way shootout, but if justice is gonna come in this case, for overreacting and the rule that says cops aren’t supposed to shoot at moving cars, badge removals are the most I see happening