but...I will say this...
Al's gotta be thinking "Lordy, I sure hope the surgeon isn't an affirmative action doctor"
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Rev. Al Sharpton reached a settlement of $200,000 on Monday in his civil case against New York City that charged police failed to protect him when he was stabbed in a racially motivated attack 12 years ago.
Sharpton, the outspoken civil rights activist who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, also receives more than $7,000 to cover a five-day hospital stay during which he had surgery for a punctured lung after the stabbing.
The settlement came minutes before lawyers were to begin jury selection for the trial in which Sharpton, 49, was seeking unspecified monetary damages for physical and psychological injuries from the Jan. 12, 1991, attack.
On that day, Sharpton says, a white man, Michael Riccardi, breached a police-secured zone and stabbed him in the chest with a 5-inch knife as he was about to lead a protest march through the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bensonhurst over the killing of black teen-ager Yusuf Hawkins by a gang of white men.
"I am pleased this case was resolved so Rev. Sharpton does not have to relive the nightmare of his stabbing on the witness stand and is now free to carry on his campaign," said his lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein.
Rubenstein said the attack occurred despite assurances that police would provide protection. He said Sharpton had received death threats before the attack, which prompted police to guard him round-the-clock for a 30-day period at one point.
The New York City Law Department defended the performance of police in the incident.
"The city strongly believes that the NYPD acted appropriately," said spokeswoman Kate Ahlers. "However, the city could not predict how a jury might rule and therefore believed that settlement was the best resolution for all parties involved."
Sharpton, head of the 25-chapter National Action Network, has been at the center of some of New York's most heated controversies. He became well known for his advocacy on behalf of Tawana Brawley, whose false 1987 claim that she was raped by a gang of white men stoked racial tensions in New York.
Riccardi was convicted of assault in the case and sentenced to five to 15 years in prison. (Additional reporting by Larry Fine)