Protests over BART shooting turn violent

[Redskins Diehard]

Rioting is an answer. It may not be the correct one and it certainly wasn't conducted the correct way or directed at the correct people anyway, but it received national attention and that is a good thing.

Of course I don't place incompetent and racist in the same group (unless we are talking about as a quality human being anyway) and it is worse in the eyes of the law to be a racist than a murderer let alone incompetent.

Which is a whole other problem in my mind.

Okay, rioting is "an answer". I definitely don't think this is a case of "no such thing as bad publicity". If the response does not draw sympathy to the cause then it is worse than doing nothing in my opinion. In this case I think the attention actually diminishes the cause. I am not a black guy. I did not grow up in an urban environment. I only "identify"(as much as a white guy from the suburbs can) with the situation through my relationships with guys that did grow up in that environment(as I'm sure you know time in the military provides a glimpse into many things you otherwise would not even be aware of). For people like me, that have never met someone that has been pulled over and hassled for "driving while black" their only view of that world is accompanied with rioting and destruction. Sure they see that there are "problems" out there. But the problems they see are not limited to a at best incompetent police officer and at worst a racist, murdering police officer.

[ACW]

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15467680?nclick_check=1

Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter

[thebluefood]

My mother and grandmother used to tell me about the D.C. Riots in '68 after Dr. King was assassinated. They would tell me that the only people who suffered because of it were black store owners and bystanders. Nothing productive came of that riot and it set D.C. back 40 years.

Sounds like the same thing happened in Oakland (though I'm sure to a lesser degree).

I also couldn't access the article, but I'll take your word for it.

[Springfield]

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15467680?nclick_check=1

Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter

I click the link and Firefox says it's no bueno (as in not trusted). Any chance on posting the text?

[THEREALTOR1]

LOS ANGELES — Johannes Mehserle was found guilty Thursday of involuntary manslaughter for killing Oscar Grant III early Jan. 1, 2009, on the Fruitvale BART station platform in Oakland.

The 28-year-old former BART police officer immediately was handcuffed and sent to jail.

The jury of eight women and four men also found Mehserle guilty of a gun enhancement charge that could make him ineligible for probation, give him a strike under the state's Three Strikes Law and add additional years to his sentence, which will be decided next month by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Perry.

More criminal proceedings could begin against Mehserle after the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday that its

Civil Rights Division would open an investigation into the killing.

With an involuntary manslaughter charge, Mehserle will face at least two years in prison and a maximum of six years.

But because he used a gun, he could face five to 14 years in state prison.

In addition, Mehserle could be forced to serve 85 percent of his eventual sentence, a much higher standard than the 50 percent most state prisoners serve.

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley said the jury's findings showed it did not buy Mehserle's explanation that he meant to use his Taser. Nonetheless, she said, she was disappointed and frustrated by the verdict.

"As you are well aware, we believe that Johannes Mehserle was guilty of the crime

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of murder," she said. "We presented the case that way, we presented the evidence that way, and the jury found otherwise. But it is important to note that this jury did not relieve Johannes Mehserle of his criminal liability."

Grant's family also was disappointed with the verdict, quietly wondering in the courtroom if the jury's decision would allow Mehserle to walk away from the crime with a simple sentence of probation.

Outside court, Grant's mother Wanda Johnson said the verdict was

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Oakland BART shooting: Full coverage

not just.

"My son was murdered. He was murdered. He was murdered. He was murdered," Johnson said as she began to cry. "My son was murdered, and the laws did not hold the officer accountable. God will not fail us or let us down, and I will trust in Him."

Added John Burris, the Grant family's attorney: "The verdict is not a true representation of what happened to Oscar Grant or what the officer's actions were that night."

Meanwhile, Mehserle's family appeared distraught. His father, mother and sister burst into tears as the verdict was read. Mehserle remained emotionless but whispered, "I love you guys," to his family as he was led from the courtroom in handcuffs by two bailiffs.

Emotions also struck at least one juror, No. 10, a Latino woman, who broke down in tears as the verdict was read and then a few seconds later when she was polled about her decision.

Michael Rains, Mehserle's attorney, did not comment after the hearing and did not return phone calls to his cell phone and office.

Members of the majority white jury, which had no black members, also did not make statements about their decision.

Although O'Malley said the verdict proves the jury did not believe Mehserle's explanation for the killing — that he mistakenly pulled out his gun when he meant to use his Taser — other attorneys said the opposite.

"The jury needed to make a decision if they believed that Mehserle was being sincere (when he testified), and I believe that they believed his testimony," said Darryl Stallworth, an Oakland criminal defense attorney and a former Alameda County prosecutor. "If Mehserle's testimony was received by the jury as being sincere and credible, then they did what they were supposed to do."

Although O'Malley said Mehserle, who was born in Germany but raised in Napa, faced a minimum of five years in prison, Stallworth said Perry still has many options when he sentences Mehserle, an officer for less than two years, in Los Angeles on Aug. 6.

Among those options, Stallworth said, was to stay the gun enhancement charge, effectively canceling its impacts on the sentence. Such a decision could lead to Mehserle's receiving probation for the crime.

Perry also could order that the gun enhancement does remain in place but that its penalties run concurrently with the penalty for the involuntary manslaughter conviction. Such a decision would result in Mehserle serving at least three years in prison.

The verdict ends the initial chapter of an unprecedented criminal case that marked the first time a Bay Area police officer was charged with murder for an on-duty shooting.

The case began more than a year ago when Mehserle pulled out his gun and shot Grant in the back as the 22-year-old Hayward man lay facedown on the Fruitvale BART station platform.

The shooting immediately sparked racial tensions in Oakland and led to a few violent protests as many said the killing highlighted a longtime concern of minority communities about police abuse. The case eventually was relocated to Los Angeles because of concerns about security and the heavy media coverage of the killing.

The shooting followed a sometimes chaotic scene at the station, which began with a call from dispatch early Jan. 1, 2009, asking for officers to respond to a fight on a Dublin-bound train.

Videos of the shooting and the events that preceded it and followed it became a crucial piece of evidence in the case. BART police officers' training and the history of police officers mistaking guns for Tasers also played a role in the trial.

Deputy district attorney David Stein argued that Mehserle's training proved he intended to kill Grant. Rains argued that BART's insufficient training on the use of Tasers was the primary reason Mehserle made a mistake.

It was Mehserle himself who provided the trial with its most dramatic and pivotal moment.

During his explanation, which was laced with loud sobs by the defendant and his mother, Mehserle said he never intended to shoot Grant.

"I didn't think I had my gun," Mehserle said last week as his face turned red and his lips started quivering. "I heard the pop. It wasn't very loud. It wasn't like a gunshot. And then I remember thinking, What went wrong with my Taser?

"I remember looking at my gun in my right hand," Mehserle said as he broke down in sobs. "I didn't know what to think. It just shouldn't have been there."

[Stadium-Armory]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/09/EDH31EC0P3.DTL

Actions of outsiders unfair to Oakland

In the days before the close of the murder trial for Johannes Mehserle, the former police officer who killed Oscar Grant, the Bay Area was abuzz with "concern" about Oakland. What would those people in Oakland do if they weren't happy with the verdict? Would they riot? Would there be looting?

Well, there were a number of people in Oakland who weren't happy with the verdict of involuntary manslaughter. And there were instances of violence and looting in Oakland - despite the best efforts of community leaders to keep the protests peaceful and nondestructive.

It must be noted that about 75 percent of those arrested on suspicion of crimes after the verdict Thursday were from outside of Oakland, according to Police Chief Anthony Batts. Many of them are anarchists. From their alleged actions, it is difficult to believe that they were interested in the case, or, for that matter, the city of Oakland.

For the residents of Oakland who assembled to peacefully protest the verdict, the actions of these few are insulting and unfair. They besmirch the reputation of the city, which is often unfairly cast as a violent cauldron, ready to blow at the least provocation.

The truth is that for months, community and civic leaders encouraged residents to participate in peaceful protests. For the most part, they succeeded. The small group of outsiders who decided to smash things didn't draw in the rest of the city. Instead, they were isolated in a one-block area, doing their destruction on their own.

Unfortunately, that's not the story that most people will remember when they think back on this event in the years to come. Instead, they'll remember that Oakland reacted "violently," or with "riots." They won't remember that a band of troublemakers came in from out of town because they were looking for an excuse to cause trouble. Oakland deserves a better story.

The best way for Oakland residents to get that story is to continue doing what the vast majority of them did Thursday - protest peacefully, act constructively and refuse to be drawn into the shenanigans of those who want to be part of the problem, not the solution