Two days after 3,000 people marched down New York City's Fifth Avenue to protest the Amadou Diallo verdict, Harvard students will hold a quieter protest.

While a large community rally is scheduled for this afternoon at Government Center, concerned students plan to wear all black to protest the verdict.

Four New York City police officers were acquitted last Friday of Diallo's murder. They fired 41 shots at Diallo, an unarmed immigrant from West Africa, striking him 19 times and killing him on Feb. 4, 1999.

The protest is being sponsored primarily by the Black Men's Forum (BMF), but other organizations, including the Black Students' Association (BSA), Harvard African Students Association (HASA), Education for Action and the Haitian Alliance will be participating as well.

By wearing all black, protesters said they hope to raise awareness of racial profiling and to express their dissatisfaction with the ruling.

"I think the verdict is a travesty of justice," said BMF President Shearwood McClelland '00. "As an African American it's hard to have faith in the legal system, because it is a legal system and not a justice system."

The BSA is also suggesting that its members wear black.

"It's a mourning for the verdict," said BSA President Alicia E. Johnson '01. "It's a mourning that there are more and more occurrences of cops shooting blacks and not being convicted," she said.