Justice 4 Oscar Grant

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Comment by Jonathan Lewis on June 18, 2009 at 10:57am

Number of Chicago Murders in 2008 Tops U.S. Soldier Deaths in Iraq, But Media’s Not Reporting It
January 3rd, 2009 · 13 Comments
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2008 Body Count: Iraq vs. Chicago

2008 Body Count: Iraq vs. Chicago

Few Americans realize the number of people murdered in Chicago during 2008 was larger than the number of U.S. soldier deaths in Iraq during the same period.

In a Sept. 4 post, I noted an effort by Chicago’s CBS television affiliate to change that fact. CBS2Chicago broadcast a report that included an interesting stat — that is, the city’s 125 summer murders total nearly doubled the number of soldiers killed in Iraq during the same time period (65). Unfortunately, they seemed to stand alone.

Two days ago, Associated Press had the opportunity to share the facts for comparison. Unfortunately, they opted to publish a story containing only half of the story (i.e., that at least 314 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq during 2008, down from 904 in the previous year).

Yesterday, the folks at the Chicago Tribune had a similar chance. Unfortunately, their article that appeared in yesterday’s edition also included only half of the story (i.e., that the Windy City closed 2008 with 509 homicides, an increase of about 15 percent over 2007).

Combine the two stories, and the whole 2008 picture — the picture unpainted by members of the media — is made clear:

* 314 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq;
* 509 people were murdered in Chicago.

You read about it here.

Comment by Arthur Romano on January 15, 2009 at 11:00am

How did the action in Oakland go? Anyone there? Interested to hear.

Comment by Kevin Sanchez on January 14, 2009 at 10:12am

Former BART cop arrested on murder charge
By Kelly Rayburn and Sean Maher
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 01/13/2009 09:19:48 PM PST


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OAKLAND - Johannes Mehserle, the former BART police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man early New Year's Day, was arrested on a murder charge in Nevada today, officials confirmed.
Mehserle, 27, shot and killed Oscar Grant III, 22, at an Oakland BART station in the early morning of New Year's Day. The shooting has prompted massive protests, especially after videos of the incident surfaced.
Mehserle was being held in Douglas County, Nev., on a no-bail warrant, a law-enforcement official said.
Since he was arrested in Nevada, he will face an extradition hearing before returning to Alameda County, a process that could take at least a few days.
Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff was Christopher Miller, Mehserle's Sacramento-based attorney, could not be reached for comment, but his office confirmed the arrest.
Mehserle had been moving from place to place in recent days as he faced numerous death threats. He was reportedly arrested without incident.
"The family will certainly be relieved that (Orloff) has made some effort to bring him to justice," said attorney John Burris, who is representing the family in a $25 million claim against BART. "This is terrific. This is a very important step in healing the community."
Repeated calls to BART police tonight were not returned.
Mehserle had given no comment either to BART investigators or

Orloff's office following the incident in which cell phone videos appeared to show him shooting Grant as Grant lay facedown on the ground at the Fruitvale station.
Mehserle's resignation last week took away BART's ability to get a statement out of him, since he could no longer be fired for remaining silent.
Oakland's assistant police chief, Howard Jordan, said he hoped news of the arrest would help calm tensions among the more than 1,000 people who were expected to protest the shooting Wednesday.
"We're hoping that people act civilly and they take this recent action as a sign (Orloff) was committed to doing a job and moving forward with a complete, thorough and unbiased investigation," Jordan said.
Earlier today, Mayor Ron Dellums said that he understands the anger people feel after the shooting, but said taking that anger out on other people is an injustice in its own right.
"It's fundamentally contradictory to stand up for justice and then dispense injustice," Dellums said. "You can't operate on both planes. You can't walk both sides of the street."

Comment by Arthur Romano on January 14, 2009 at 12:12am

I have been thinking a lot about the protests and gatherings. Yes, I think a visible street presence can and will be powerful. I've also been thinking a lot about what the goals of such an actions can be now and in the future. I don't want to complicate things but I think strategic long term action is a concern for many of us and so I thought I'd get an early start for future actions. The challenge is to create a larger conversation, ultimately a national conversation as police brutality is symptomatic of deeper issues. I am very grateful that the gathering has dedicated itself to such a calling.

I also am concerned that if we protest police brutality without concrete proposals and community based and institutional solutions then we will be protesting forever as this happens so frequently across the country. The folks in Oakland have obviously been considering this as they are putting forward some concrete demands. Many other people in the gathering movement must be thinking about this as well and so I wanted to start a web conversation about what is the best way to use direct action to connect local and national agendas to challenge youth incarceration?

I don't know many of the answers, but I thought I'd share some questions that I have been asking myself and trying to answer. I also realize there are people out there who have so much more knowledge of this then I do, and who have dedicated their full life's work to ending youth incarceration and I want to learn more from all of you. My analysis will seem simple to many of you but I put it forward as a start.

Why march?

Police brutality is a symptom of much deeper problems and so in the wake of a tragedy like this we are presented with both a need to speak up and make it clear that we will not just accept such injustice, that we do see it and that we cannot let such actions take place without dissent. Our challenge is to also address deeper issues. The best way as far as I can see to honor these lives that are lost is to dramatize what are pervasive and far-reaching problems (institutional racism and the criminalization of young people of color and those who live in poverty) because this kind of thing is happening all the time across the nation its just that in most situations there are not people with cameras there to capture this injustice for others to so clearly see.

So the question becomes what are the underlying issues that need to be addressed? How does police brutality connect with institutional racism, profiling, inadequate schools etc? What solutions, processes and changes should be fought for? We need to affect policies within the enforcement, penal and judicial institutions. How do we do this at the local, regional and national level and how can direct action, like these protests apply pressure to elected officials to support these changes and proposals?

Why march?

A few more ideas: To dramatize the deeper issues which are made so painfully apparent in a moment of brutality against another young man of color. To reinforce our commitment to work for alternatives, to build on community resources so that the authorities are not called into our communities as often and have alternative options for engaging, to write curriculum and create a institutional culture that challenges racism for judges, DA's, the Police, Probation officers etc. To invest in restorative justice so that detention is seen as a failure of the system and police brutality as a product of that same flawed logic!

Also, as so many of you know, economic issues need to seriously be looked at..So what can be done to support neighborhood entrepreneurship? We need support for small businesses, job training in meaningful areas of employment, etc. I think from a national perspective as many people recognize this is not solely about the lack of ethics for Bart law enforcement as the conditions which produce this brutality don't exists in a vacuum, unfortunately this happens all the time, across the country.

Props to the gathering, to the folks in Oakland, to the people who are doing this work across the country for making this seen. The next steps are important. To succeed we must awaken the conscience of many more people of good will who feel these issues don't effect their lives. We are ignited now, many of you have been working so hard on these issues for so long, my deep respect for that. I think the time for an awakening on this issue may be closer then we think. Let me know what you think.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Peace,
Artie

Comment by carol saffen on January 13, 2009 at 8:58pm

We cannot accept so called "non-lethal" weapons being"" for lethal weapons-obviously the main purpose for this is intimidation. Aside from intimidation being an unacceptable method of creating order within chaos --the ability to "accidentally" grab a lethal weapon for the non-lethal is obviously much too high of a probability and irreversible risk of lethality. Having said that---as Honey below mentions...the taser is much lighter than a gun and does sound like an "excuse" for AT BEST ...Irresponsible reactions to a crisis and actually stinks more like Arrogance and Power...as well as there has been said ....racial slurs were called out so yes it stinks of racism also.
This particular injustice done to Oscar Grant- from all sources I have read has as much to do with racism as the posturing of police to" force control" in a situation not requiring anywhere close to the type of that was initially claimed to be needed (as the entire incident was down played by those in charge prior to actual video being seen proving otherwise)

Comment by Honey on January 13, 2009 at 8:07pm

You know they are saying that the type of taser that was "supposedly" mistaken for a gun... is in fact shaped like a gun, the x26 or something to the effect(http://www.eastsideartsalliance.com/). Yet the taser is about 2 x's times lighter than most guns....they try to come up with anything in order to get off. And the other officer who had his knee on Oscar's neck has shot and killed a man last year in the back......hhhhmmm sounds like some type of initiation or something.

Comment by Jonathan Lewis on January 13, 2009 at 1:56pm

From: James Rucker, ColorOfChange.org
Date: Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 4:55 AM
Subject: Your voice and the killing of Oscar Grant

Oscar Grant was unarmed and posed no threat. He was executed by the police in front of cameras and witnesses.
Yet the authorities refuse to act.

Join the call for justice.

On New Year's Eve, Oscar Grant was shot execution-style by a transit police officer in Oakland, California. He was shot in the back while face-down on a subway platform, unarmed and posing no threat.1,2
Twelve days later--despite several videos showing what happened--the officer who killed Grant hasn't been arrested, charged, or even questioned. He quit the force and has refused to speak. The District Attorney has done nothing.
It's time to demand that California Attorney General Jerry Brown take over the case and arrest Grant's killer, and to ask that the US Department of Justice launch an independent investigation into the conduct of the local authorities. Please join us and ask your friends and family to do the same:
http://www.colorofchange.org/oscar/?id=2097-547936
Oscar Grant is the third man murdered by BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) police in the past 17 years. All three victims were Black and none posed a serious threat. In each case, BART and county authorities have failed to hold the officers accountable.3
In the previous cases, BART's internal investigations concluded that the officers felt threatened by the victims and were justified in pulling the trigger. It's unbelievable given the circumstances of the killings:
In 1992, 19-year-old Jerrold Hall was shot in the back by a BART officer as he tried to leave the parking lot of a station. The officer was responding to reports of an armed robbery and said he suspected that Hall and a friend were involved. The officer tried to detain the two, Hall ran and then the officer shot him in the back and killed him. Hall was unarmed, but the officer said he thought Hall was on his way to get a gun and return for a showdown.4

In 2001, a mentally ill man named Bruce Seward was the next victim of the rogue force. Seward, 42, was naked and had been sleeping on a bench outside the BART station when an officer approached him. Seward did grab the officer's nightstick at one point, but there were several options for subduing him. Instead, the officer shot and killed him.5
In addition to BART's internal investigation, Alameda County's District Attorney is also investigating Oscar Grant's murder--but the office's record on investigating police killings is horrible too. In both cases just described, the District Attorney bought BART's argument that the officers felt threatened. As a result, the cops were cleared of any wrongdoing.
In the case of Grant's murder, the DA has already let 12 days pass while doing essentially nothing--the officer who killed Grant is able to travel and leave the state, and he's free to talk with other officers and attempt to construct a story to justify his killing of Oscar Grant.
The problem with Alameda County's DA goes beyond BART police murders. In the past two years alone, there have been 11 fatal police shootings in Oakland (not including that of Oscar Grant).6 When asked, the officials at the District Attorney's office could not remember a single case in the last 20 years where an on-duty cop had been charged in a fatal shooting in Alameda County.7 It gives the clear appearance that the District Attorney's office just doesn't have the will to prosecute police crimes.
California's Attorney General needs to step in now and arrest Oscar Grant's murderer. And the US Department of Justice should investigate the failure of the authorities in Alameda County to act. It's the first step towards justice. After that, we will push for systemic changes to create public accountability for BART and other police departments. Creating those structural changes will be a much longer fight, but Oscar Grant's tragic death is a wake-up call that should give us a real chance to help prevent this from happening again.
Please join us in demanding justice, and then ask your family and friends to do the same:
http://www.colorofchange.org/oscar/?id=2097-547936
Thanks and Peace,
-- James, Gabriel, Clarissa, William, Dani, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
January 13th, 2008
References
1. "BART shooting captured on video," San Francisco Chronicle, 1-06-09
http://tinyurl.com/7jr4f8
2. "$25 Million Lawsuit Announced In BART Shooting," KPIX, 1-04-09
http://tinyurl.com/a87ya4
3. "BART cop shooting: we've been here before," Daily Kos, 1-08-09
http://tinyurl.com/86ts2v
4. "Lethal force," San Francisco Bay Guardian, 12-12-92
http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=7799
5. "BART police condemned by slain man's family," San Francisco Chronicle, 7-18-01
http://tinyurl.com/84ullk
6. "Forum on officer-involved shootings held," KGO-TV, 12-11-08
http://tinyurl.com/73mx26
7. "Death threats against BART officer," San Francisco Chronicle, 1-07-09
http://tinyurl.com/9xk425

Comment by Carmen Perez on January 12, 2009 at 8:48pm

FYI this was on today's news. Just wanted to let you know what was being advertised in the Central Coast.


BART completes preliminary probe of fatal shooting

Associated Press - January 12, 2009 7:54 PM ET

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Bay Area Rapid Transit officials say they've completed their preliminary investigation of the New Year's Day fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer.

BART Police Chief Gary Gee says his department did not make a recommendation on whether charges should be filed against Johannes Mehserle.

That leaves it up to the Alameda County District Attorney's office to decide whether to file charges.

Witnesses say Mehserle, a BART police officer, fired into the back of 22-year-old Oscar Grant while Grant was lying facedown on a train platform at Oakland's Fruitvale station.

BART officials say their report includes interviews with seven officers and 14 witnesses at the scene. They say Mehserle, who has resigned from the force, has refused to provide a detailed statement to investigators.

Comment by Kevin Sanchez on January 12, 2009 at 4:06pm

Rhyme with No Reason?
By: Curly X

This poem is dedicated to Oscar Grant and the other Oscar Grant’s

Bullets piercing the bodies of my people,
I thought the constitution said we are all equal.

Puppets in this world voicing our sad stories,
Eyeballs filled with sanction killings by police sissies.

When will the shooting stop from the hired guns,
Good men die while marksmen freely run.

Mothers hanging on to the last breath of there child,
Minutes go by and she grows more, wild.

Murders are banging Her heart to death,
Riots seem old, it outgrows the poor, and defiles.

Bigots were crushed by the hands of peaceful men,
Cries didn’t come from guns, but from there mouth and pen.

Lead an army of soldiers with guns and rocks, and we will be crushed,
Because violence begets violence, when we are rushed.

Heal our broken hearts with sage and gospel song,
The real ordeal is to fix the pain of wrong.

Forgive and forget, seems to far fetch,
But I promise, you,
Brother Killing Brother, Sister Killing Sister,
Others shooting others to enact revenge,
Its like rhyme with no reason, it doesn’t end.

I want to thank Paradise, for being my inspiration. I hope that our words reach Oakland, and we can be there for them, and heal, organize, and do things the right way. Because you and I know, riots are what the oppressor wants. It gives them a reason to oppress. Destroy the violence, and they have no tools against us.

Peace and Love

Comment by Elandria Williams on January 12, 2009 at 4:06pm

Another young black man, Adolph Grimes III, was killed by police in NOLA on New Year's Eve. He was shot 14 times with 12 shots going in his back. Check out http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/09/new.orleans.shooting/

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