Voices boomed from the steps of Memorial Church last night as hundreds of students, professors and local residents gathered for a candlelight vigil in memory of Amadou Diallo.

Diallo was shot 19 times last year by four New York City police officers while standing in the vestibule of his Bronx apartment. Last month, the officers--who said they mistook a wallet Diallo was holding for a gun--were acquitted of second degree murder charges in connection with the death.

Last night's event, organized by Harvard Law School's Black Law Students Association (BLSA), featured speakers, poets and singers, all condemning racial violence and police brutality.

"We need to send a message that if there is no justice, there is no peace," said Darnell Williams, New England Area Conference President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). "Only when we unite together in a single voice will people realize that enough is enough."

Professor of Law Randall L. Kennedy urged crowd members to make sure that Diallo's death was not in vain.

"We have to bring something useful and beneficial out of this tragedy," Kennedy said. "We have to mobilize our minds and our hearts to go to the community to lessen the risk of this happening again."

Several speakers said that the Diallo shooting was related to deeper issues in American society, such as racism and abuse of police power.

Adam R. Taylor, president of the Harvard chapter of the NAACP, said he believed the shooting was not an isolated incident in the U.S.