An aide to Al Sharpton on Tuesday denied a report that the reverend accused Barack Obama of trying to "grandstand in front of white people" by suggesting that New Yorkers should not get violent over the acquittal of three police officers who shot an unarmed man last year.

The story, which appeared in Tuesday's New York Post, is an "outright falsehood," said Charlie King, acting national director of Sharpton's National Action Network.

"Everything stated in the New York Post regarding yesterday's conversation between Senator Obama and Reverend Sharpton is false, and is either a fabrication of the Post journalists who wrote the story or the supposed unnamed source for the story. In my view, there is a big difference between tabloid journalism and shoddy journalism. This story is clearly the latter and is unacceptable," King said.

The Post reported that Sharpton and Obama got into a heated conversation about Obama's response to the Sean Bell verdict last week. Bell was shot by the officers outside a Queens strip club in November. On Friday, three officers involved in the shooting were found not guilty of criminal charges by Queens Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman, who reached a verdict without a jury.

The verdict was widely decried by Sharpton and others, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers called for a federal probe. The six officers involved in the shooting still face a possible federal civil rights investigation and departmental charges.

Obama responded to the verdict by saying that "the judge has made his ruling and we are a nation of laws and so we respect the verdict that came down. I think that the most important thing for people who are concerned about the shooting is to figure out how do we come together and assure that those kinds of tragedies don't happen again."

The New York Post quoted a source who said Obama's response was unsatisfactory to Sharpton, who has threatened to shut down the city. According to the Post source, Sharpton called Obama and berated him for saying that it's "completely unacceptable and counterproductive" to resort to violence.

"(Obama) issues this statement and not a single rock had been thrown," a source told the newspaper. "How does the candidate of change ask people to accept a verdict that is unjust?"

The source added that Sharpton had hoped Obama would "side with the Bell family" and not use it as an "opportunity to grandstand in front of white people."

But King said the paper should issue a retraction immediately since it has not identified the source and did not call to verify its accuracy.

"For the record, Reverend Sharpton and Senator Obama had a good conversation yesterday about the need to address both police misconduct and reducing crime. As with the numerous conversations they have, it was friendly, respectful and substantive. " Said King.

King accused the newspaper of trying to "create the misimpression of division between Reverend Sharpton and Senator Obama" and claimed it had falsely reported some months ago that Sharpton did not want Obama to run for president.

Click here to read The New York Post report.