The police officers were members of an elite street crimes task force and thought Diallo matched description of a man wanted for rapes in the area.

What happened next has been disputed in court. Both the prosecutors and the defense agreed that Diallo reached for his wallet. The officers said they thought he was reaching for a gun. They opened fire, discharging 41 bullets in total.

The incident enraged New Yorkers both black and white, many of whom charged that the officers acted with either malice or, at best, gross indifference to Diallo's life. The Rev. Al Sharpton and others said they believed the shooting was in part racially motivated. A Bronx prosecutor filed charges against the officers, and the case was moved to Albany because of the publicity. Last Friday, a jury of four black women, one white woman and seven white men acquitted the officers, igniting protests across New York City.

For two hours last night, the conversation was often intense.

"In the past three years, there have been three major incidences of police brutality," said Alicia E. Johnson '01, who is president of the Black Students' Association (BSA). "This incident is part of a much larger issue, something that must be addressed, and the BSA at Harvard is dedicated to mobilizing action against this issue," she said.

Within the next week-and-a-half, participants at the meeting agreed to try to inform Harvard students about the case, and about allegations of police brutality and racial profiling.

They said they plan to stuff mailboxes, to stand outside of the Science Center to reach out to students and to sport arm bands representing the cause.