MURDER MEETS REALITY
***THE FOLLOW IS A VERY SERIOUS MATTER WHICH HAPPENED RECENTLY IN THE BAY AREA***
***WE WARN YOU TO ONLY READ ON IF YOU FEEL THE NEED TO BECOME AWARE***
Quiet Please. On January 1st, 2009 police were notified of a drunk and disorderly disturbance on an Eastbound BART train from San Francisco shortly before 2am. When the train pulled up to the Fruitvale station, the police were ready. 22-year-old passenger, Oscar Grant was among a group of passengers removed and subdued with force by Officer Tony Pirone. Backup officers, including 27-year-old Officer Johannes Mehserle, arrived on the scene and together with Officer Pirone restrained Grant and several of the fighters to seated positions along the sidewall.
Officer Mehserle and Officer Pirone found Grant un-cooperative and positioned him facedown to the ground. The two officers struggled to control Grants’arms and as panic set in -- camera phones began to roll video. ACTION! Officer Mehserle again ordered Grant to stop resisting and told him he was going to taze him. What happens next is the clearest instant in an utterly confusing ordeal- Officer Mehserle lets go of Grant, stands straight up and fatally shoots him in the back from a point blank distance. Officer Mehserle claimed he was reaching for his tazer in reaction to seeing Grant reach for his waistband.
In the short time following, Officer Mehserle resigned before meeting with BART investigators and fearful from death threats toward his own family- fled to Nevada. Protests and demonstrations followed demanding justice. Mehserle was eventually arrested for murder and released on $3 million bail.
The case now takes on criminal and civil trial preparation but the question remains, would there be any case at all without the cell phone videos broadcast by youtube? Mehserle skipped town, BART’s own platform security cameras never were released, none of the other passengers were interviewed for witness accounts, and of course Mehserle’s defense team was all set to use the self-defense card. The guy nearly got away with murder. But days later, television station, KTVU, broadcast the cell phone witness videos and the public got active. The murder became viral. Rallies formed and community members led a movement.
We ask you Arowana readers, when do we start questioning the training and responsibilities we hold on law enforcement? “To Protect and Serve” is their motto but we’ve clearly seen that nobody feels protected after this inexcusable action. Should police only issue firearms to more veteran officers? Are we witnessing another Rodney King of this decade? Will we witness more? Did the city of Oakland deserve this? We understand becoming a law enforcement officer includes danger and putting your life on the line. But if YOU yourself as a police officer are the danger, then is it your job to protect yourself from others? The police have long been the watchguard for our streets, but with new media, the people sent the message that they are watching police now too. Thats a cut.
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Tags: BART Police, Johannes Mehserle, Oakland, Oscar Grant, Tony Pirone
