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Killing of Oscar Grant

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Killing of Oscar Grant
DateJanuary 1, 2009 (2009-01-01)
Time2:15 AM PST (10:15 UTC)
LocationOakland, California, United States
Casualties
1 killed

The BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant was a fatal shooting in Oakland, California, United States, in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2009.[1] Responding to reports of a fight on a crowded Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train returning from San Francisco,[2] BART Police officers detained Oscar Grant and several other passengers on the platform at the Fruitvale BART Station. Officer Johannes Mehserle and another officer were restraining Grant, who was prostrate and allegedly resisting arrest.[3][4][5] Officer Mehserle stood, drew his gun and shot Grant once in the back. During his court testimony, Mehserle claimed that Grant then exclaimed, "You shot me!" Grant was unarmed.[2][3][6] Grant was pronounced dead the next morning at Highland Hospital in Oakland.[6]

The events were captured on multiple digital and cell phone cameras. The footage was disseminated to media outlets and to various websites, where it was watched hundreds of thousands of times.[7] The following days saw both peaceful and violent protests.[8]

The shooting has been variously labeled an involuntary manslaughter and an execution.[9] On January 13, Alameda County prosecutors charged Mehserle with murder for the shooting. He resigned his position and pled not guilty. The trial began on June 10, 2010. Michael Rains, Mehserle's criminal defense attorney, has claimed Mehserle intended to fire his Taser, but mistakenly shot Grant with a pistol when he thought Grant was reaching for a gun.[3][4] Pretrial filings argue that his client did not commit first-degree murder and asked a Los Angeles judge to instruct the jury to limit its deliberations to either second-degree murder or acquittal.

Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris filed a $25 million wrongful death claim against BART on behalf of Grant's family.[10][11]

On July 8, 2010, the jury returned its verdict: Not guilty of second degree murder, not guilty of voluntary manslaughter, and guilty of involuntary manslaughter.[12] The sentencing date was set for August 6th.

The incident

Background

Oscar Grant had been celebrating New Year's Eve with his friends on the Embarcadero in San Francisco, and was returning to the East Bay in the lead car of a BART train bound for Fruitvale.[2][13] BART offered extended service and a special "Flash Pass" for the New Year's Eve holiday.[6][14] At approximately 2:00 a.m. PST, BART Police responded to reports that up to 12 people were involved in a fight on an incoming train from the West Oakland BART Station and the participants were "hammered and stoned."[2][3][15]

Officers removed Grant and several other men suspected of fighting from the train and detained them on the platform. Grant and another man ran back onto the train after being detained, but Grant voluntarily returned to the platform when officer Tony Pirone grabbed the other man and dragged him from the train.[2] Pirone handcuffed Grant's friend, angering other riders.[2] Pirone then lined up Grant and two other men against the wall.[2][16] According to Mehserle's motion for bail, Pirone confirmed with the train operator that the men detained were involved in the fight.[4] When five other officers, including Johannes Mehserle, arrived at the Fruitvale station, they found the situation chaotic.[2][17] Mehserle's partner on duty, Officer Jon Woffinden, said the "incident was one of the most frightening he had experienced in his 12 years as a police officer." [18]

Mehserle's motion for bail, citing the police investigation, stated:

"Officer Pirone directed Officer Mehserle to arrest two of the individuals who had not been handcuffed. One of the individuals to be arrested was Oscar Grant, and Officer Pirone’s direction to Mehserle was overheard by Grant. Grant, upon hearing that he was under arrest, attempted to stand up, but was forced to the ground face first. Both Officer Mehserle and Officer Pirone attempted to restrain Mr. Grant and to seek his compliance by ordering him to put his hands behind his back to be handcuffed, but Mr. Grant resisted and refused to submit to handcuffing. Officer Mehserle was pulling at Mr. Grant’s right hand and arm, which remained under his torso near his waistband. Mr. Grant had not been searched by any officer for weapons, either prior to his initial detention or after being seated near the wall."

A cell-phone video broadcast on local television station KTVU on January 23 showed what appeared to be Pirone rushing towards Grant and punching him in the face several times two minutes before he was shot.[2][16][19] Grant's family alleges in their civil claim against BART that an officer threw Grant against a wall and kneed him in the face.[20] Pirone's attorney stated that Grant provoked Pirone by trying to knee the officer in the groin and by hitting Officer Marysol Dominici's arm when she attempted to handcuff one of Grant's friends.[21][22] Witnesses testified that Pirone was the aggressor during the incident.[23] Burris also disputes Pirone's account and claims that Grant and his friends were "peaceful" when the train stopped.[22] Grant then raised his hands while seated against the platform wall.[24] Additional footage from a cell phone was presented in court showing Pirone standing over the prone Grant before the shooting and yelling: "Bitch-ass nigger." Pirone and his attorney say he was parroting an epithet that Grant had said to him.[25]

BART police had been on edge before the shooting because two guns had been recovered in separate incidents along the rail line over the previous hour.[26] Immediately before he arrived at Fruitvale, Mehserle was involved in an incident at the West Oakland station where a teenage boy with a semi-automatic pistol had fled from police and jumped off the station platform, breaking several bones.[2]

Fatally shot

While dozens of people shouted and cursed at officers from the stopped train, Mehserle and Pirone positioned Grant face-down. According to Pirone, Grant was disobeying instructions and cursing at officers.[3] Witnesses stated Grant pleaded with BART police not to shock him with a Taser.[10] Pirone then knelt on Grant's neck and told him that he was under arrest for resisting an officer.[3][16]

Mehserle's motion for bail, citing the police investigation, stated:

Pirone said he told Grant "Stop resisting, you're under arrest, put your hands behind your back." At that time Pirone said he heard Mehserle say, "Put your hands behind your back, stop resisting, stop resisting, put your hands behind your back." Then Mehserle said, "I'm going to taze him, I'm going to taze him. I can't get his arms. He won't give me his arms. His hands are going for his waistband." Then Mehserle popped up and said, "Tony, Tony, get away, back up, back up." Pirone did not know if Grant was armed. Mehserle had fear in his voice. Pirone had never heard Mehserle's voice with that tone. Mehserle sounded afraid.[4]

The motion also states that the man sitting next to Grant also told police he heard Mehserle say "I'm going to taze him."[4]

Mehserle then stood up, unholstered his gun, a SIG Sauer P226,[3] and fired a shot into Grant's back.[24] Immediately after the shooting, Mehserle appeared surprised and raised his hands to his face; according to Michael Rains, Mehserle's criminal defense attorney, several eyewitnesses described Mehserle as looking stunned.[3][27] Witnesses say Mehserle said "Oh my god!" several times after the shooting.[28] and many saw him put his hands to his head.[29]

The .40 caliber bullet from Mehserle's semi-automatic handgun entered Grant's back, exited through his front side and ricocheted off the concrete platform, puncturing Grant's lung.[27][30] According to one witness, Grant yelled, "You shot me! I got a four-year-old daughter!"[31] Grant died seven hours later, at 9:13 am, at Highland Hospital in Oakland.[17]

There is disagreement whether or not Grant was handcuffed before he was shot. The day after the shooting, BART spokesman Jim Allison said that Grant was not restrained when he was shot.[6] Court filings by the district attorney's office say that Grant's hands were behind his back and that he was "restrained and unarmed" but do not say he was handcuffed.[1][3] The attorney for Grant's family claimed that Grant's hands were restrained by Mehserle immediately prior to the shooting.[32] The family's claim against BART alleges that Grant was handcuffed only after he was shot.[20]

Oscar Grant III

Oscar Grant III

Oscar Juliuss Grant III, (February 27, 1986[33] – January 1, 2009), lived in Hayward, California.[17] Grant had worked as a butcher at Farmer Joe's Marketplace in Oakland's Dimond District after previous jobs at several Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets.[10] He attended both San Lorenzo and Mount Eden High Schools in Hayward until the 10th grade and eventually earned his GED.[10]

Grant served two state prison terms for various felonies including a conviction for drug dealing.[34] In 2007 he was sentenced to 16 months in state prison for fleeing "from a traffic stop while armed with a loaded pistol".[10] During that incident, near his Hayward home, San Leandro police shot him with a Taser to subdue him after he threw the pistol into the air and ran.[10] The arresting officers testified that even after being Tased, Grant "continued to resist efforts of the officers to handcuff him".[35]

Grant was released from prison on September 23, 2008, and according to the attorney for Grant's family, John Burris, "had been doing well in recent months".[10] Burris also stated that the criminal conviction and Tasing was "irrelevant to the BART shooting because Mehserle wasn't aware of it when he opened fire".[10][36]

In the motion for bail, Mehserle's attorney, Michael Rains, stated that toxicology testing of Grant's blood revealed the presence of alcohol (0.02%) and Fentanyl, a strong narcotic pain reliever.[4] The coroner's bureau said the pathologist's autopsy protocol would be finalized in March 2009.[37]

Grant's funeral was held at the Palma Ceia Baptist Church in Hayward on January 7, 2009.[38] He is survived by his mother, sister, four-year-old daughter, and girlfriend (his daughter's mother), who are the claimants in a wrongful death claim against BART.

Johannes Mehserle

The oldest of three children, Johannes Sebastian Mehserle (born circa 1982) was raised in the Bay Area from the age of 4.[3] He graduated in the class of 2000 from New Technology High School in Napa, California. He attended college in Napa, in Monterey, and at Sonoma State University, where he majored in business, and he developed an interest in police work through a friend who was a police officer. He went on to graduate from Napa Valley College Police Academy in 2006, where he placed in the top five of his class academically and placed well physically.[29][39] Mehserle's girlfriend gave birth to their first child on the day after the incident, January 2, 2009.[39][40]

Mehserle joined the Bay Area Rapid Transit Police in March 2007.[39] Prior to the shooting, he had never been the subject of a sustained complaint from the agency's internal affairs department [41] nor had any criminal arrests of any kind. Since the shooting, a Bay Area man has complained to the media that Mehserle had beaten him on November 15, 2008; Mehserle's police report on the incident states that four officers grabbed the man after he yelled threats and assumed a fighting stance.[42] The accuser, who has served time for theft and burglary, was taken to the hospital for chest and facial injuries and was later booked into jail for resisting arrest. He has not filed a formal complaint against BART.[42]

Mehserle submitted to drug and alcohol testing per BART's standard operating procedure.[24] The results showed no drugs or alcohol in his system[29]. He retained a criminal defense attorney and refused to speak to the authorities, invoking the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act[43] and the Fifth Amendment, claiming potential self-incrimination.[40][44]

On January 5, 2009, Mehserle's attorney postponed a scheduled meeting by BART investigators, seeking to defer it until the following week. BART Police administration and investigators did not allow this and commanded him to attend an investigative interview on January 7. Mehserle did not attend. Instead, his attorney and his BART Police Officers Association union representative arrived and submitted his resignation letter.[39][45]

Mehserle and his family received a number of death threats after videos of the shooting appeared, and he subsequently moved at least twice; his parents have also left their Napa home because of death threats to the family.[39][40]

Criminal trial

On January 12, Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff filed a complaint for murder and an Alameda County Superior Court Judge then signed a fugitive arrest warrant. Mehserle was arrested January 13 at a friend's home in the Zephyr Cove, Nevada, area near Lake Tahoe where his attorney said he had gone after receiving death threats in the Bay Area.[1] Mehserle waived extradition, and was held in protective custody at the Santa Rita jail in Dublin, California.[1] Mehserle pled not guilty at his arraignment January 15.[46] On January 30, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson set bail for Mehserle at $3 million.[3] A week later, with the help of fundraising from the police union,[47] Mehserle posted bail.[48]

Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff refused to speculate whether Mehserle would be charged with first or second degree murder, saying "What I feel the evidence indicates is an unlawful killing done by an intentional act and from the evidence we have there's nothing that would mitigate that to something lower than a murder."[49][50] Orloff noted Mehserle's refusal to explain himself as a reason for charging him with murder, rather than manslaughter.[1] Orloff said he would fight any motion to change venue for the trial.[1]

Mehserle retained Pleasant Hill criminal defense attorney Michael Rains, who previously successfully represented one of the Oakland Riders.[51] Before Mehserle retained Rains, Rains told the Associated Press that it could be difficult to prosecute Mehserle for murder because the law discourages "second-guessing and hindsighting" of police officers, who tend to be favorably viewed by juries.[52] Mehserle's defense is paid for by a statewide fund for police officers.[51]

Bail hearing

At a January 30 bail hearing, Rains told the court that Mehserle had only carried a Taser for a few shifts prior to the January 1 shooting and mistakenly deployed his service weapon when he thought Grant was reaching for a gun.[3] Rains stated "Mr. Grant was actively, actively, actively resisting arrest" [34] and that some witnesses heard Mehserle say "Get back, I'm gonna taze him."[53] Rains said he plans to call witnesses who will show "there was a level of resistance by Oscar Grant and others that will negate malice".

The prosecutors' theory of the case is that the video evidence shows that Mehserle deliberately reached for his weapon. They argued: "What we see in the video is an officer releasing his control of a suspect, standing up, drawing his weapon, with some difficulty, and shooting it."[53] Jacobson agreed in deciding to set bail at $3 million that Mehserle's claim of Taser confusion was inconsistent with his earlier statement to a fellow officer and that Mehserle might be changing his story.[3] He later imposed a gag order on attorneys and investigators in the case, prohibiting them from releasing future filings or otherwise commenting to the press.[54]

Preliminary hearing

Rains argued during the preliminary hearing that Mehserle lacked the malice necessary for a murder charge and that he intended to Taze Grant. A BART Transit officer testified saying Grant and his friends yelled profanities and did not obey her orders to sit down moments before Mehserle fired at Grant. She said she was fearful when she heard taunts coming from Grant, his friends, and passengers on the train.[55] After the seven days of testimony, Judge C. Don Clay concluded that Mehserle had not mistakenly used his service pistol instead of his stun gun. The judge based this on Mehserle's statements to other officers that he thought Grant had a gun. He also noted that Mehserle had held his weapon with both hands when he was trained to use just his left if he was firing a Taser.[56] Mehserle is facing up to life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder.[57]

In a supplemental motion filed Rains argued that Judge Clay should take a second look at a ruling that barred him from presenting evidence about Grant's criminal background as well as a ruling that barred him from presenting evidence that Mehserle told a fellow officer just before the shooting incident that he planned to use his Taser on Grant. He protested that "Both rulings amount to grave errors under longstanding and never-questioned California authorities" and alleged that they "substantially interfere with Mehserle's federal due process right to defend against the murder charge." [35] Rains had also failed to convince Judge Clay to remove District Attorney Tom Orloff's office from the case. Rains claimed Orloff violated his client's rights because he ordered two Oakland police officers to try to interview Mehserle after he was arrested even though Orloff knew Mehserle had an attorney. Judge Clay said Orloff's actions did not prove a bias nor did it meet the requirements necessary for him to be taken off the case.[58]

Plea and jury selection

On June 19, 2009, Mehserle pleaded not guilty, and the jury trial was scheduled to begin in October. Mehserle's attorney Michael Rains sought a change of venue of the trial on the grounds that there would not be an impartial jury in Alameda County.[59] Citing extensive media coverage and social upheaval, the judge agreed.[60] Rains's request was honored on October 16, and downtown Los Angeles was chosen on November 19.[61]

Los Angeles County Judge Robert J. Perry was assigned to the case. He signaled that he would not allow cameras in the courtroom.[62] There was a hearing on February 19, 2010 to address two issues. Mehserle's bail was not reduced as requested by the defense. The judge also rejected a motion to remove Alameda County prosecutors from the case. Rains had argued that prosecutors and detectives acted inappropriately when they interviewed Mehserle earlier in the case. Another hearing was set for March 26.[63]

Mehserle's attorney is expected to argue that his client did not commit first-degree murder and has asked the judge to instruct the jury to limit its deliberations to either second-degree murder or acquittal. Rains wrote that Mehserle will not argue the killing was conducted in the heat of passion or in self-defense. Rains also argues that prosecutors have shown no evidence that the fatal shooting is either voluntary or involuntary manslaughter.[64]

On May 7, Judge Perry granted a motion by defense to discuss Grant's conviction for possessing a gun and evading arrest.[65] Perry formally selected the jury on June 8. The 12-member jury consists of eight women and four men; of these jurors, seven were white, four Hispanic, and one Asian. Of the alternates, there were five women and one man with three Asians, two whites, and one Hispanic. It is alleged that six of the jury have law enforcement connections.[66] Grant's family expressed outrage at the absence of blacks in the jury.[67] The day before the trial began, Deputy District Attorney David Stein revealed a photo that Grant took of Mehserle with a cell phone camera. The photo showed Mehserle pointing a Taser at Grant.[68]

Taser confusion

Several experts who observed video evidence suggested Mehserle might have confused his gun for his Taser[27][69] causing him to mistakenly believe he was tasering Grant.[70] If Mehserle thought he was firing his Taser, the killing would be accidental and not subject to a murder charge.[9][71] Prosecutors allege that paperwork, including a blood alcohol test, completed by Mehserle after the shooting show that he has changed his story.[64]

While there have been previous cases where police officers have confused guns with Tasers, modern Tasers weigh half as much as handguns.[9] The prosecution argues that the position of Mehserle's Taser "in relation to his duty weapon, combined with the different 'feel' and color of the two weapons makes it highly unlikely that he would have mistaken one for the other."[72] Burris responded to claims of Taser confusion by arguing that video evidence did not support the idea of Taser confusion and, in any event, Mehserle had no reason to fire his Taser.[3] Mehserle was wearing his Taser on the left side of his body (on the opposite side from which he wore his gun) -- but set up for a cross-body, strong hand (right-hand) draw.[73]

BART purchased the Taser X26 stun guns in September, and provided them to officers after six hours of training,[3] which is the amount recommended by the manufacturer.[74]

Witness testimony

  • June 14: Carlos Reyes recalled Mehserle saying "Oh shit, I shot him" after shooting Grant. Grant's former girlfriend Sophina Mesa testified she called Grant while Grant and his friends were being detained and Grant said: "They're beating us up for no reason, I'll call you back." Deputy District Attorney David Stein believes that Grant's phone call proves that Grant did not want to resist arrest that night. Cell phone records showed two calls between Grant and Mesa: at 2:05 a.m. and 2:09 a.m., the latter just two minutes before Grant was shot.[5]
  • June 15: Three eye witnesses of the account testified that neither Grant nor the other suspects actively resisted the officers at any time. Each expressed disgust at the behavior from officers preceding the shooting that night.[5]
  • June 22: Jackie Bryson, one of Grant's friends "who was kneeling and handcuffed just inches from Grant when Johannes Mehserle shot him", testified for the prosecution. Bryson said that Grant's hands were under Grant's body and Grant said: "I quit. I surrender." Mehserle then supposedly said "Fuck this" before shooting Grant. Defense attorney Rains repeatedly accused Bryson of lying to convict Mehserle and pointed out a video showing Bryson running towards the train while handcuffed. Responding to Mehserle's question "You were going to leave your friend on that platform, weren't you?" Bryson said "I would never leave my friend." Rains accused Bryson of being inconsistent from statements in Bryson's lawsuit against BART, and Bryson admitted that he lied to investigators, distrusted the police, and was frequently stressed after Grant died.[75]
  • June 25: Mehserle took the witness stand. Sobbing, he said that he thought that he was not holding his gun until he heard a pop and looked at his right hand. Responding to a question from Rains, he recalled Grant saying "you shot me" right after the shot went off. Judge Perry called a recess after a man identified as Tim Killings heckled Mehserle to "save those fucking tears" and was later arrested for contempt of court.[76]

Closing arguments and verdict

Judge Perry granted jurors three conviction options: second-degree murder (with a sentence of 15 years to life in prison), voluntary manslaughter (3 to 11 years), or involuntary manslaughter (2 or 4 years). Otherwise, the jury may acquit Mehserle. Prosecutor Michael O'Brien said that Mehserle committed a crime inherently by shooting Grant. Intention meant murder or voluntary manslaughter, and an accident indicated recklessness on Mehserle's part and thus involuntary manslaughter. Judge Perry gave two interpretations of Mehserle's shocked reaction after shooting Grant: either Mehserle actually wanted to use his Taser or Mehserle realized that many people were witnessing his action.[77]

Closing arguments took place on July 1. Expressing a belief that Mehserle "lost all control" the night he shot Grant and labeled the shooting as an accident to avoid liability, Stein asked the jury to convict Mehserle of second-degree murder. Rains argued that the shooting was accidental and told them not to make "some sort of commentary on the state of relations between the police and the community in this country."[78] Jury deliberations began on Friday, July 2, and the jury had the day off on July 5 because of the Independence Day holiday. On July 6, deliberations were suspended after one juror left for vacation having notified the judge in advance, another juror went to a medical appointment, and another called in sick. One new alternate juror joined the panel. One juror submitted a question asking whether provocation by "sources other than the suspect(s)" can make one guilty of voluntary manslaughter. Stein argued that the jury should be able to consider outsiders' influence of Mehserle, but Rains disagreed.[79]

On July 8, 2010, the jury informed the court that they had reached a verdict by 2:10 p.m. The deliberations with this jury panel totaled six and a half hours over the course of two days. At approximately 4 p.m., the jury found Johannes Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and not guilty of both the second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter charges.[12] Despite $3M in bail, Mehserle was detained after the verdict was read.[citation needed] The next court date, when sentencing will occur, has been set for August 6, 2010.[citation needed]

There were multiple gatherings held throughout Oakland after the verdict was announced. The crowd turned violent in downtown Oakland but this was quelled by police.[80][81]

Video evidence

The incident and subsequent direct evidence of the shooting was documented by video cameras held by passengers on the train idling next to the platform, as police detained Grant and a number of other men police suspected of being involved in the disturbance. Several witnesses testified during the preliminary hearing for Mehserle's trial that they began recording because they believed BART officers were acting too aggressively.[23] These videos were made available through television news and internet video.[24]

Burris says BART confiscated numerous cell phone images that he believes contains additional evidence of the killing.[82] Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff said video confiscated by BART was useful in bringing the murder charge against Mehserle.[83] Witnesses at the scene also claim police attempted to confiscate cameras.[84][85][86] These claims have not been confirmed by BART police.[2]

Orloff, the district attorney, said that several passenger videos that have not been made public were "very helpful" in the investigation.[1]

On January 2, KTVU aired a video by an anonymous passenger who submitted a cell phone video of the actual shooting.

On January 23, KTVU aired a cell-phone video which appeared to show a second officer punching Grant in the face prior to the shooting.[19] In late February, KRON 4 aired a clip of a video showing a different angle of this altercation. In the report, former Alameda district attorney, Michael Cardoza, told KRON that Pirone appears to be attempting to restrain Grant by grabbing his head and pushing him down. He also said that Grant appeared to be reaching for Pirone's gun. Burris responded by calling it a "ridiculous assumption" since Grant was trying to resolve the problem.

BART spokesperson Linton Johnson described the surveillance footage from the Fruitvale platform cameras as "benign" and said the platform cameras had recorded some of the incident, but did not include the actual shooting.[17][87] BART's video remains unreleased but is expected to be aired openly during the preliminary hearing.[88]

There has been varying commentary on the video evidence. After viewing the shooting from multiple angles, police use-of-force expert Roy Bedard commented: "I hate to say this, it looks like an execution to me" and "It really looks bad for the officer."[70] University of San Francisco law professor Robert Talbot said the videos could support a claim of an accidental shooting: "Nothing about his body looks murderous."[9] Attorney Harland Braun, who won acquittal for an officer in the Rodney King beating, noted that video evidence can be deceptive, and doesn't show what happened before or after an incident.[9]

Impact of technology

Video images of the incident were widely broadcast and streamed online. Several hundred thousand viewed the videos in the first few days after the shooting.[70] One local television station video posted to its website was downloaded more than 500,000 times in four days [7] and one independent media video posted to the internet averaged more than 1,000 views per hour.[70] Widespread dissemination of the direct evidence of the shooting led to public outrage and protests and fueled riots.[8]

The case—and the overall intense community response to it—highlights the impact technology can have on news events.[7]

BART's response

On January 8, 2009, BART's elected directors offered apologies to the victim's family.[89]

BART later filed a legal response to the lawsuit that claimed that the shooting was "a tragic accident", and that Grant contributed to the fatal incident. BART said the officers were "just defending themselves" and that "Oscar Grant willfully, wrongfully, and unlawfully made an assault upon defendants and would have beaten, bruised, and ill-treated them if defendants had not immediately defended themselves." [90][clarification needed]

BART has also held multiple public meetings to ease tensions.[91] BART board member Lynette Sweet said that "BART has not handled this [situation] correctly,"[89] and called for the BART police chief and general manager to step down, but only one other board member, Tom Radulovich, has supported such action.[92] The Board of Directors created a transit police department review committee to review policies and monitor "major police incidents."[93]

An investigation was launched to determine whether any other officers should be disciplined. On January 12, investigation results were forwarded to the district attorney.[93] The investigation, which interviewed seven police officers and 33 other witnesses,[94] came to no conclusion and made no recommendations.[93] The details were forwarded to Meyers Nave, an outside law firm, for an independent investigation.[95] It was led by Jayne Williams, the former city attorney for San Leandro, and was estimated to cost $250,000.[96][97] In August, the law firm provided two reports to BART but only released one publicly. The report said officers failed to follow recommended procedures, failed to work as a team, and had lapses in both tactical communication and leadership.[98][99]

The footage of a cell-phone video showing Pirone striking Grant caused additional responses after KTVU's broadcast in January. BART General Manager Dorothy Dugger angrily said a "rigorous" internal affairs investigation would be ordered.[19] Later, an attorney representing BART, said that Grant provoked Pirone's blow by trying to knee Pirone at least twice, "It is our position that there was a provocation and assault on Mr. Pirone based upon a video that shows Mr. Grant apparently hitting Mr. Pirone with his knee," [90] On September 22, KTVU reported that Meyers Nave had recommended the termination of Tony Pirone and Marysol Domenici in its unreleased report.[100] After being on leave since the incident, Domenici was terminated on March 24, 2010.[101] Pirone was terminated on April 21 after an internal investigation upheld a finding of misconduct against him.[102]

Public reaction

Protesters holding signs on January 8, 2009

Protesters have organized several demonstrations and marches in the weeks following the shooting and during court hearings.[103][104] Alice Huffman, state president of the NAACP, said there was little doubt the shooting was criminal.[71] Many reporters and community organizers have stated that racial issues played a role both in the killing and in the community response.[105] Grant's family claims that officers used racial slurs during the arrest.[106] BART Police Chief Gary Gee remarked that the BART investigation had found no "nexus to race that provoked this to happen."[1]

There was a broad public perception that BART Police were not conducting an effective investigation.[107] The shooting stirred outrage among political leaders and legal observers; Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson,[9] Oakland City Councilmember Desley Brooks (Eastmont-Seminary), and Berkeley Copwatch labeled the shooting an execution.[9][108] Local columnists criticized such language as "inflammatory" and "the exact opposite of the kind of sane leadership we need and expect from our elected officials."[109][110]

Protests and violence

During hours of the unrest, shops were vandalized in Downtown Oakland

On January 7, a protest march of about 250 people[111] in Oakland became violent. Demonstrators caused over $200,000 in damage while breaking shop and car windows, burning cars, setting trash bins on fire, and throwing bottles at police officers.[41][111][112][113][114][115] Police arrested over 100.[41][114] Grant's family pleaded for calm and spoke out against the violence at a press conference the next day.[111][114][116] Nevertheless, on January 8, police in riot gear had to disperse a crowd of about 100 demonstrators after some of the protesters stopped vehicles and threw trash cans in the street.[117]

A January 14 demonstration briefly turned violent, and police arrested 18 people after protesters smashed car and store windows in Oakland's City Center district.[118] Another eight were arrested in a January 30 demonstration after Mehserle's bail hearing, causing Mayor Ron Dellums to suggest that Mehserle's right to bail should be abrogated to prevent violence in the community.[119] [120] Oakland Tribune columnist Katherine Drummond criticized the protestors as "self-described 'anarchists,' who aren't even from Oakland, and wannabe Black Panthers... playing right into the hands of the defense" by giving Mehserle a plausible case for change of venue.[119] Some point to the fact that Mehserle was arrested only after the rioting that the protesters, causing no injury to bystanders, were successful and justified. Many are also confused as to why journalists and city officials claim the rioting was done mainly by "outside agitators," which is said by those involved to be untrue. In a July 3, 2010 article for the San Francisco Bay View, Minister of Information JR writes, "When I was in the streets and when I was in jail, I met many of the rebels. Most of them were from Oakland. And most of them were Black and Brown, with a few Asians and whites sprinkled in. Why was that lie [that the rebellion was created by outsiders] propagated? I believe that it was put out so that the people in Oakland and in the world would be given the impression that the rebellions didn’t have popular support, because the reality is that although a number of Black people have been killed in high profile cases elsewhere, including Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, Kathryn Johnston, and Michael Walker, to name a few, none of those cities went up in smoke like Oakland, California."[121] .

On May 18, 100 protested outside of the courthouse during the preliminary hearing and then marched to the nearby Oakland Police Department. A protest organizer was arrested after the group blocked traffic.[122]

Protests have continued throughout the pretrial process. The hearing on February 19, 2010 saw 50 protesters with signs outside of the Los Angeles courthouse.[123] An estimated 200 protesters gathered at San Francisco's Embarcadero BART station on April 8 to call for the disbanding of the transit system's police department and the firing of an officer who was on the scene when Grant was shot.[124]

On July 8th, following the verdict, protesters looted businesses such as The Foot Locker,bank, and a jewelry store.[125]

Civil action

Oakland attorney John Burris filed a $25 million wrongful death claim against BART on behalf of Grant's family on January 6, 2009.[11][24] In February, he also filed claims for a total of $1.5 million on behalf of five of Grant's friends who he says were detained without cause for five hours after the shooting, alleging illegal search and seizure, false arrest, and excessive force.[15][22] Such claims are prerequisites to a civil lawsuit if BART denies the claim or fails to respond within 45 days.[11]

Part of a $50 million federal civil rights lawsuit brought by Grant's family was closed when BART settled with the mother of Grant's daughter for $1.5 million. Grant's daughter will receive a series of payouts until her 30th birthday.[126]

See also

References

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  4. ^ a b c d e f "People v. Mehserle, Motion to Set Bail, Case No. 547353-7 (Alameda Cty., Cal.)" (PDF). 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
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