(PU) Forty—one street vendors were acquitted today of all charges in the shooting death of New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who was fired upon as he stood in the vestibule of City Hall in Manhattan. “He looked suspicious,” testified one of the 41 defendants, each of whom, in an unusual coincidence, happens to be named Amadou. Outside the courthouse, an obviously relieved Amadou #1 embraced Amadou #37. “At last,” he wept, “the people recognize that this was a tragedy, not a crime.” The verdict came in a tense and racially charged case that made international headlines and led to anti—vendor demonstrations and several arrests. The jurors—three welfare mothers, two homeless people, three community gardens activists, two gay anarchists, one squeegee man, and an ex—police officer—deliberated for 3.5 minutes before reaching their decision. During the trial, defense attorneys focused heavily on the testimony of the street vendors, asserting that the shooting was justified because the vendors had believed Mayor Giuliani was “some white guy” who was reaching inside his jacket in a threatening manner. The vendors, who stated that they had been searching for a Caucasian male notorious in the vicinity for short—changing them, mistakenly identified Rudolph Giuliani as their suspect. “We saw him go for his pocket, and thought he was taking out a wallet,” Amadou #7 told the court. “It wasn’t because he was white. The sun was in our eyes. All we could see was that he had on a suit and he was sneering. They all look alike, anyway. So we shot him.” Each defendant fired once, making a total of 41 shots. However, stated Amadou #18, “We didn’t mean to kill him.” It was later discovered that the object the Mayor had been reaching for was a gun. At the trial, the street vendors acknowledged their mistake in the killing, and all 41 testified that they were deeply sorry. “I held him in my arms,” sobbed Amadou #24 on the witness stand. “I told him, ‘Please. Please, Mr. Mayor, don’t die.’ But the jerk did it anyhow. You just cannot deal with these people.”

All 41 street vendors were grim—faced today while the verdict was read. They wiped their eyes and hugged one another and their lawyers. The Mayor’s family, on the other hand, looked happier than they had looked in months. “Well, you know, these things happen,” smiled the Mayor’s widow, who urged supporters to remain nonviolent.

According to legal observers, an acquittal was made possible largely because defense attorneys were able to convince the jury that the Mayor’s own behavior was largely responsible for his death. “He was slinking around—the way that type does,” testified Amadou #32. “We didn’t know what he was doing at City Hall. I mean, who could have guessed the dude actually worked there?”

Also key to the defense case was an earlier decision to move the trial to the Bronx. “A Manhattan jury would never have gone for this,” a counsel for the defense told reporters.

People on the street paused to talk about the verdict. Most said they thought the outcome was unfair and that the prosecution—two pigeons and a rat—had performed incompetently. One of the jurors told reporters on condition of anonymity, “I didn’t want to acquit them. I thought these guys were guilty as hell. But heck: the law is the law.”

New York street vendor violence against city officials is up 11% from last year—a figure many say is unacceptably high. However, the Fraternal Order of Peddlers [FOP] has defended the shooting, saying that their members are highly trained professionals who sacrifice their lives daily so that New Yorkers can purchase healthy snacks and attractive personal accessories at affordable prices.

“New York City politicians are known to be dangerous to street vendors and small business owners in general,” said FOP President Amadou. “These brave vendors were defending each other’s livelihoods.” Indeed, many office and construction workers on their lunch breaks praised the vendors, describing them as models of restraint.

Following the verdict, a crowd of over 3,000 Republicans marched down Fifth Avenue, protesting what they deemed to be street vendor brutality. “NO MAYOR, NO PEACE!” jeered demonstrators whom the FOP has described as nasty, hate—filled people with nothing better to do than waste their lives pointing out lethal prejudice and flagrant miscarriages of justice. One hundred marchers were arrested and forced to spend the night in a holding cell with drunken members of the Libertarian Party.

Litigation over this incident may not be over. The case will likely proceed to the federal level, where government prosecutors are set to determine whether any of the Mayor’s civil rights were violated. The FOP, for its part, will attempt to prove that Mayor Giuliani lost none of his rights in being shot to death, and that, anyhow, he was probably in this country illegally.