The EBay Inc Internet auction site halted the sale of what was said to be a piece of the door where Amadou Diallo was killed by New York City police officers in 1999, Ebay Inc Senior Director of Communications Kevin Pursglove said.
The item was taken off the site after a lawyer for Diallo's mother said the offering "implied that the family endorsed the sale of the item or the way the money would be spent," Pursglove said.
Anthony Gair, an attorney for Diallo's mother, Kadiatou Diallo, said he spoke to an Ebay attorney at 1:30pm and the item was removed by 2:30pm. "I was very pleased with their response," he said. "This had a total lack of dignity and it's very ghoulish."
Taxi driver Jared S. November told the New York Times that he found what he said was a 6m-long section of the door in a garbage can in early February as the building was undergoing renovations. His listing started the bidding at US$41,000 -- US$1,000 for each shot fired at Diallo, the Times said.
Four police officers shot and killed the unarmed African immigrant in the vestibule of his home on Wheeler Avenue in the Bronx on Feb. 4, 1999. They were acquitted of murder charges last year. Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik said last week that he won't discipline the officers.
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said the attempted sale was "highly inappropriate and very offensive. People should not attempt to exploit a tragic situation like that."
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