The BART police officer who shot Oscar Grant in the back while he was laying on the ground on New Year’s Day, which led to riots in the City of Oakland, CA, earlier this month, has been arrested.
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Johannes Mehserle, 27, was taken into custody last night as part of the investigation into the controversial shooting of Oscar Grant earlier this month.
The 22-year-old victim was killed after transport police intervened to stop a fight on a train from San Francisco to Oakland in the early hours of 1 January.
The manner of his death has sparked protests and rioting. Footage filmed by passengers on the train at Fruitvale station appeared to show Grant sitting calmly on the platform shortly before the scuffle that left him dead.
Judge for yourself. Here’s video of the shoooting (Warning: Graphic images of violence. May not be suitable for viewing at work).
I have no idea what defense Mehserle will offer for his actions. He refused to talk to or cooperate with investigators last week and resigned from BART after video of the shooting was broiadcast. Self defense seems out of the question based on what I saw. There has been speculation that Grant may have believed he was reaching for his taser and pulled out his firearm instead in confusion, but that is all it is at this point — speculation. Personally, I find it hard to believe Mehserle couldn’t tell the difference between a his hand gun and his taser. Here’s some images of the two:
A typical handgun that many police officers use:
A taser, such as the one Mehserle was carrying:
The differences between the two are fairly apparent, wouldn’t you say? Aside from the differences in shape, a hand gun is typically three times heavier than a taser weapon.
Mehserle Was arrested in Douglas County, Nevada, by the way, on a fugitive warrant. Obviously, attempting to evade arrest by leaving the jurisdiction where the incident in question took place is not proof of guilt, but it is circumstantial evidence from which one may reasonably infer that Mehsele felt he would be convicted if arrested, absent evidence that he had permission from authorities to leave the Bay area.
It will be interesting to see with which crimes Mehserle is ultimately charged by the prosecuting attorney. Anything less than premeditated murder is likely to draw more protests from the African American community in Oakland. Certainly if any of us had shot a man in the back who was restrained by someone else while he lay on the ground, you can bet we’d be talking to our attorney about the best way to avoid the death penalty. Police officers, however, are often granted a lot more leeway in cases where they shoot people in cold blood. Just ask Sean Bell or Amadou Diallo, to name but two of many unarmed black males whom police have gunned down over the last few years.
I’m sure the community of Oakland and the nation at large will be watching this case closely as it proceeds to a possible indictment and trial of Johannes Mehserle for the murder of Oscar Grant. Sadly, incidents like this serve to point out the differences in which many whites and blacks view the nature of racism in our society. Conduct a poll right now and the number of whites who believe that racism had nothing to do with this shooting will likely be vastly higher than the number of blacks who believe that. And electing Barack Obama as our President has not changed that fact.
It would be nice if Mehserle was charged for a hate crime, but I don’t expect that to happen. It would be tragic if he is not charged with premeditated murder.
I can’t understand why his partner or the other unit present didn’t have him surrender his weapon immediately. Summary execution is one of those things that you shouldn’t get the chance to go home, change and head to Nevada.
Cops have their own version of the snitch rule.
In another video of this crime, it is clear the other cops are shocked — frozen with inaction, stunned with disbelief — before choosing to close ranks with their fellow. The department actually hid this guy for a couple of days, moving him from place to place to protect him from death threats. That changed when he refused to cooperate and resigned.
I really, really can not imagine a possible defense except temporary insanity. It was premeditated murder because there was a decision to put a gun in hand when no gun was required. “Heat of the moment” may force the DA to settle for manslaughter. Eventually we’ll hear about how this officer had built up anger and hatred toward young black men and snapped. That should attach a hate crime penalty to the manslaughter charge.
I don’t know where they’re going to find unbiased jurors for this trial… monks without cable or internet, maybe?
They’re all going to see the video at trial, regardless.
I can’t help but be concerned that the Web exposure for the videos may affect their admissibility if they’re used in Trial…
remember how much teh Rodney King video helped the convictions of the officers there? In the end, (as I recall) it may have actually helped in the dismissal of the charges.
It might have been for the best if the videos had been turned over to the prosecutors early on, and released only when admitted to Evidence in the Trial…
The whole world is watching. On You Tube.
…which makes the possibility of seating an unbiased jury all the more difficult.
I’m really concerned this trial, once cenvened, might be moved to SoCal, where the more conservative populace will seat a jury that will ‘let the cop go’, just like with Rodney King’s case.
Of course, the jurors will likely see several videos and hear testimony from eye witnesses… and the psych evaluation attempt at defense. The hard part will be finding people who have not already decided the guilt of the defendant. Jurors are supposed to start with an unbiased state of mind. That ain’t gonna be in Alameda County, I’m guessing. The DA will also have to screen out the racists who think the “n*#%@ waz axing for it.” Probably won’t come to trial; there’ll be a plea bargain and the guy will spend his time in solitary to protect him from the prison population.
What kind of plea can Mehserle come up with? The best I could come up with is that the guy hadn’t been getting much sleep because his girlfriend was about to give birth and that diminished his capacity. The twinkie defense doesn’t cut it around here anymore.
The delay gave all the cops involved time to get their stories straight. I agree, somebody in charge down there should have disarmed the guy & segregated the cops who witnessed the thing so they couldn’t talk with each other. The ‘chief’ of the BART police should be out on the street right now.
Funny that the shooter ran to Lesser Whiteland (Minden, NV) as a hideout.
Exactly. This is not a problem with just the one cop. It’s my humble opinion that each and every cop that did not immediately arrest him were aiding and abetting an obvious murderer. I’d like to know more about how they treated the crime scene in the immediate moments after the shooting.
This is therefor a systemic problem and the focus on bringing the Officer to Justice is too narrow, as I am sure local Oaktown folk would agree.
Yup. The people of Oakland are super pissed right now. Everyone knows the cops have an attitude of shoot first, ask questions later, but this case was so egregious that the people are fed up. It took how many days to arrest the gunman? And now that they have him under arrest, they still aren’t saying anything. It’s a case of the straw that broke the camel’s back. I just really hope that today’s rally doesn’t become another riot.
In the San Francisco Chroncile this a.m. the story claims that Grant, the victim, struggled. It’s pretty damn hard to struggle lying face down on the pavement with your hands behind your back. Wiggle, maybe, but not struggle.
Rather, I’d say that Mehserle struggled trying to get on the handcuffs.
My theory is that Mehserle was intoxicated. After all, it was New Year’s. I’d like to know if he took a substance test after the shooting.
While I’ve defended people as a shop steward and realize the importance of someone’s right to remain silent, in this case what separates manslaughter from murder was Mehserle’s intent. And as long as he keeps his mouth shut the DA can’t presume it was an accident.
Next move: change of venue to a rural, all-white county up in the Sierra.
There is no chance for a fair trial either way in Alameda. Honestly, the number of people who came out in favor of the cop was pretty shocking too(i.e., the comments at SFGate). Most everyone I have talked to, though, is shocked by the videos.
There is a march planned for today at 4:00 p.m. from Oakland City Hall to the Alameda County Court. I work across the street from City Hall. I would love to attend, but my kid doesn’t get to my workplace until 4:45.
Struggle or no struggle, there was no threat.
He was lying face down with his hands behind his back. The only way he could have been more cooperative would have been to put the cuffs on himself.
Reports tonight indicate that Mehserle had beaten up another black man who disrespected him. Sent him to the hospital.
I bet that cop wishes that he’d gone straight to authorities and negotiated a plea deal as soon as possible.
If he confesses and throws himself on the mercy of the court immediately then I could live with life in prison without parole. Otherwise, nothing short of a needle in the arm could be considered justice.
My prediction: involuntary manslaughter plea, 3-11 years in a minimum security facility down South.
And all Hell breaks loose in Oaktown…
He was charged with murder. With a gun in California that adds another 25 years. It’s hard to believe he’d walk. There is nothing to support what he did, and putting him on the stand would be a prosecutor’s dream.
The fact that he was a cop, and the authorities bent over backwards for him early on and then he refused to cooperate and took off for Nevada, he may be losing friends in high places. With the new story about him sending another black man to the hospital six weeks ago, he and his lawyer may have overplayed whatever hand he had.
He’s not going to get the death penalty, though.