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In what's beginning to look like an unfortunate accident, BART officer Johannes Mehserle resigned today after fatally shooting Oscar Grant at the Frutivale BART station on New Year's Day. Johannes Mehserle was supposed to meet with BART police investigators today, but at the meeting, which Mehserle didn't attend, the officer's attorney and his union representative turned in his resignation letter. The BART Police investigation, though, will "continue to seek and examine all available evidence and will continue its full cooperation with the ongoing independent investigation by the District Attorney," according to BART.gov. Really, this is a tragedy for everybody involved. We feel for both parties.
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It's unfortunate but this is probably for the best, especially for these young families.
Did you watch all three of the publicly available videos? The officer pulled his gun out with the intent of shooting this guy. He pulls the gun out, positions his arm and other hand to absorb the shock and then fires. Then he immediately holsters the weapon.
It is shocking.
which video are you watching asshole?
in case you hadn't heard, the bart cops were told that 2 weapons were confiscated earlier on the same train during the same fight. this piece of shit was a felon that would kill and rape you as soon as look at you. good riddance!
what a charmed existence you must enjoy.
hahahaha. oh dear. am i on SFGATE?
i don't understand the motive for this cop. even if he did it out of racism (which is what some people are already charging), i just don't see him taking out his hatred for black people in front of dozens of witnesses.
still, that was SOME accident. did he lose consciousness for a few minutes or something? i foresee him getting some mental illness diagnosis and trying to use that in his defense.
Quite frankly, that's entirely possible. Under extreme stress (relative) we can completely check out from reality and enter a realm previously unknown--raw, unbridled instinct. Adrenaline and neurons can be explosive and unpredictable bedfellows. But this is where proper training comes into play, as it replaces raw instinct.
Why is it a tragedy for "all involved"? This guy resigned from a job. That's it. He's not lying in the ground, dead.
Because if I shot and killed somebody, I would consider it a tragic moment in my life. A different degree of tragedy than being worm food, yes, but still a horrific moment. I can't imagine the officer feels nothing but remorse right now.
You're entitled to your feelings, but this guy got up and fired point blank at a man whom witnesses had said "don't tase me, I have a 4 year old daughter."
The entirety of my sympathies are reserved for that guy's family, not the one who's going to be around to watch his OWN daughter grow up.
yeah my sympathy for the cop is limited and uncertain. i want to believe it was an accident, but the videos are shocking. i would be a little more understanding if he had schizophrenia or something.
although i'm all for equality for the mentally disabled, I don't think people with severe mental disabilities should be police officers.
"tragedy for 'all involved'" = nothing wrong with that sentence
Because Brock is a moron. Aw poor guy, recklessly murdered a handcuffed individual (there was no need to have even a taser unholstered, not to mention the fact that he took out his taser, put it away, and then took out his gun).
"murdered" = incorrect, look at the elements
handcuffed = incorrect
resisting arrest? possibly
bad policing = definitely
Says the racism-, Hamas-, poor people-fetishizing tool. How deeply you must feel things, counterculture warrior.
Ah yes, I fetishize racism because I don't believe in collective punishment. I know you think you're being the even handed voice of reason, but you're just a jackass. There's a very clear victim and perpetrator here. Alas, what can I expect from a "professional blogger," it's a shame Gawker doesn't have a Bay Area presence beyond Valleywag.
Don't be a dick. It's not like the cop wanted to shoot the guy. Mistakes happen, and even if he meant to shoot him, I HIGHLY doubt he meant to kill him. No one is that heartless--except apparently a lot of SFist commentators who want the cop to rot in hell.
I could be wrong, I'm not a cop, but isn't it a rule that you don't take your weapon out/fire it *unless* you intend to kill the person?
No way can you prove this up for murder. There's just no way.
BART will be on the hook for civil damages - yes way.
according to M&R on sfgate, no criminal charges will probably probably be bought, and the civil case will take years, maybe decades to resolve. They cited a similar case where a cop killed an unarmed man and the cop said he did it because "it looked like he was reaching in his waistband". the same cop later shot another unarmed man (did not kill) and claimed the same defense. He has yet to be brought on criminal charges (on either case) and the civil case is still pending. all a cop needs to get away with murder is to say that it 'looked like you were reaching ...", or something to that effect. (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/07/BAVT154HIG.DTL&feed=rss.news)
Yet the other officers didn't seem to be too concerned with any imaginary hand motions, even the one on the ground was looking in the direction of the gun.
@bluecanary: well, having to live for the rest of your life knowing that you killed an innocent person is kind of tragic. he'll never be the same again. i'd hope.
he might wind up killing himself
I guess it depends on the kind of conscience a man who would get up and fire a bullet into someone lying facedown and cuffed on the pavement would have. Yes,I think the least that could be expected is that he would feel a twinge of remorse now and then.
I bet the "remorse" he feels is the selfish kind:
I wish I hadn't shot him so that I could still have my job.
I wish I hadn't shot that guy because it really embarassed my family.
I wish I hadn't shot that guy because the recoil hurt my wrist a little.
I'd be curious to know what your insight into this guy's psyche is based on
It was probably video of him drawing a loaded weapon and firing it into the back of an unarmed and handcuffed man laying face down on the ground that gave me the best insight into this man's psyche.
That an unarmed man was shot in the back is without question. The motives and reasoning behind it and the mental state of the shooter before, during, and since still are. Hell, while we're both throwing spotty theories against the wall about these persons we don't know, I could jump to an awful lot of conclusions as to why Oscar Grant might've gotten shot based on his stints in the clink, criminal record and violent actions on BART that night.
And despite all those (most likely accurate) assumptions about Grant his execution was completely without justification.
@Joel, how about I give this officer as much "benefit of doubt" as these officers would give a suspect who did NOT have video of them committing the crime. Last I checked officers come to some pretty strong conclusions based on pretty flimsy evidence.
We have video here of an officer executing a man who has arrested. Far more damning than witness statements alone which have left many non-uniform wearing suspects on death row.
Just got a BART service advisory: There is a station closure at Fruitvale Station in both directions due to civil protest.
The experts cited in the Chronicle's article seem to come down on the side of this being more than an accident, but only time will tell what the official verdict is (one expert said it was an execution).
As to whether or not the officer is racist, who knows? As to whether or not the BART cops would have broken up a fight amongst white young adults this way... I can't say. But that is the nature of people's protest vis-a-vis race / racism in this case.
"Racism" is a non-starter for me. If it's anything bigoted, more likely it's a cop-vs-citizen power trip. "Achieving compliance" and all that.
It's funny how many different conclusions on the guy's motivations are being drawn based solely on three blurry cell phone videos.
I know. And even the clearest video wouldn't show what people were thinking when anything happened.
Yeah all I got out of those videos was "Whoa! What the hell was that guy thinking?"
I saw no reason for and have no explanation of his actions.
I'm inclined to believe the he-thought-he-was-holding-his-Taser argument. That explanation fits the events really well.
That said, not only is it a bad mistake, but it also shows that police are way too quick to use their tasers. Tasering the guy would not be justifiable, let alone shooting him.
Tasers should be used in situations where you would normally shoot the person with bullets, but are attempting to cut back on people you kill. Instead, police are now using tasers as replacements for having to negotiate or scuffle.
Tasers are on the opposite side of the body to a firearm.
Tasers aren't usually shot at point blank range.
Tasers are largely ineffective at point blank range
Tasers aren't used when another person is in direct contact with the suspect.
There's more to this than simply whether this specific officer was racist or which party's experience is more tragic. This happens A LOT. People are given a gun as part of their "position of authority," there is an unacceptable resulting loss of life - more often than not, lives of minorities - and there are no repercussions. Sean Bell in New York and Deonte Rawlings in DC, just to name two recent cases (both of which actually received some press attention...).
When you look at all of the "incidents" together, that's where the racism comes in, and it's part of a much bigger problem with the way the law treats different classes, races, and genders in our country. In the end, situations like this are tragic, fundamentally, because of the loss of human life, but also because of the reinforcement of the fact that certain people are "protected" by the law and others are victimized by it, and because of the dehumanizing effect on folks who probably went into law inforcement with the best of intentions.
In addition to questioning this specific officer's intentions, we should also be asking ourselves why we allow guns in our public spaces at all, why those who are supposed to protect us carry weapons that can kill us, and why it is easier for people to justify that being the case when they aren't part of a group that is systematically targeted by heavily armed authority figures.
If this was Athens.....
And here's my 10c:
The cops are armed because the law allows you tools to carry guns, or easily buy guns stolen from other law abiding tools. Ban guns tomorrow. Make owning a gun a deportable offense (back to where ever you all claim to be from). Then the fat-necked grunt cops won't have to carry the guns they are obviously incapable of using properly and we can all sit around complaining about hoodies, knife crime and literally, axe-wielding maniacs. It's in your hands, fatties.
Do you really think banning handguns would solve anything? Hmm, I can just imagine the murderer now "I was really going to go shoot that bitch, but having a gun would be a crime. Maybe I should rethink this. I wouldn't want to break a law..."
Give me a break.
update from SF Gate:
A protest over the fatal shooting by a BART police officer of an unarmed man mushroomed into a violent confrontation tonight, with a faction of protesters smashing a police car and blocking streets in downtown Oakland.
Saw that comin' from a mile away ... violent confrontation.
They tried and failed to set a Police cruiser on fire. Where are the professional anarchists when you need them? Sitting in trees?
Professional anarchists are too scared to go to Oakland.
I've given this a lot of thought and have concluded that on this given day only one person was shot and killed on the BART system. It wasn't the old guy ambling onto the platform or the dude with the bike or even the smelly idiot mumbling to himself.
This person had multiple prior criminal convictions for egregious crimes against other more civil humans AT 22 YEARS OLD. Did he deserve to die for his action that particular day? Probably not. Did he have a load of negative karma loaded and waiting for his sorry ass to meet his maker.
Oh yeah, probably.
Good riddance and enjoy your 6 feet under for being another wannabe thug punk. They should replay that video at every BART station on a loop for every other idiot who decides he is going to be the next thug of the month. Nothing sobers up the retarded brain like a healthy dose of death.
My sincere condolences to the poor SOB who happened to take this career criminal out of the gene pool. Albeit a bit too late. I hear he already has a baby momma and some poor child left behind. Excellent work young man!
Right, and I'm sure that cop had complete access to the poor bastards criminal record when he pulled out his gun and shot him. I'm sure he was, in that moment, absolutely certain that he had priors, and wasn't just a punk ass high school kid getting in a fight on New Years. Thank god for those mini computers installed in their frontal lobes. Maybe that had something to do with the cops TOTAL LACK OF JUDGMENT AND SELF CONTROL WHEN HE SHOT A KID IN THE BACK.
Or maybe he just knew he had priors and was a worthless piece of shit by his baggy pants and skin color.
Yeah, I'm sure that argument is going to hold up real well with Oscar's kid in ten years, or his friends that were sitting less than a foot away from him. Yeah. You sleep well tonight, buddy.
Oscar Grant may have had priors. But, at this point, he had his freedom. At this point the captains who steer the judicial system had let him out because they felt he was ready to be out.
Whatever terrible crimes he may have committed in the past, were in the past. Regardless of the stupidity of getting into a drunken brawl on a subway train he did not deserve to be executed. Heck, I'm willing to bet at the age of 22 that he was on his way out of whatever stupid youth thug phase he was in.
We've all had relatives who have run astray of the law as a youth. Done stupid things and end up paying for it for the rest of their lives. Thankfully no police officer has put my brother face down on the pavement and shot him in the back.
I suppose the above poster is right though, the computer chip implanted in all BART security guards heads must also come with a mini jury, judge, and sidearm executioner.
Unfortunate accident?
I was a cop here for 30 years....here is my $0.02:
The ex-officer will be charged with either manslaughter or 2nd degree murder. Plain and simple. He screwed up big time. Having only been a cop for 2 years, he was still a rookie, and had not fully learned all he needed to be a truly effective officer.
Racially motivated? Not likely. All the officers responded to the fight call, after what was likely a long and tedious New Year's eve. Oscar, for whatever reason, decided he did not want to cooperate (look at his 'friends' in the video...most are compliant and are not reacting to the officers the way Oscar is).
For whatever reason, the ex-officer did the wrong thing in pulling his gun and firing. It is likely he intended to use his Taser, but again, because he had not been a cop long enough, he pulled the wrong tool, and we have the tragic results that followed.
As responsible members of a civilized society, we all need to follow the rules and laws that allow us the freedoms that we have. Treat each other with respect. Don't take what is not yours, don't victimize your fellow man, and recognize we each want to live our lives to the fullest.
Don't buy/sell/use illegal drugs. If you are going to drink, do it responsibly, and be sure that if you cannot control yourself, have someone with you who can.
If you get into a situation where the police are involved, DON'T BE AN IDIOT!! Don't fight the police. Especially with lots of witnesses, expect that they will do what they need to do, and they too will move on with their lives.
Oscar did not need to die on that platform, and I expect the ex-officer will be properly charged and tried. In the meantime, we ALL need to take a breath, step back, and let the system do what it is designed to do. Inflammatory remarks (especially by elected city officials in Oakland) are not going to make this any easier, and instead will only make this whole process more painful and damaging.
so that's what "keeping it real" gets you...dead. good job to all involved. idiots
Found this comment while surfing on another message board -
“to curt.. AMEN someone is sticking up for the truth! Cuz no, Grant wasn’t a peacemaking angel he now seems to be. He was also the instigator of a fight about a yearish ago that got his friend Fumar killed.”
Did some more research on a James Fumar, found the obligatory shitty myspace "rest in peace my dead hommie" page and then this other comment on another message board -
“its sad to hear things like dis happin. i knew jordon at mt.eden. he was a known kid around skool. jordon had lots of friends. he was a koo cat! wen i found out dat he got shot, i was stung! i never thought dis would happin to any of the boys in hayward! mostly ever-one in west hayward were friends..... it was a shockin!
da sad thing about this was that his friends or so call "FRIENDS" was der and didnt say anything about it.....and even to go to his home and talk wit da family like dea had nothing to do wit this! its sad because my family went through the same-thing in 1999. i no wat da family is going through. its hard to live ur life after something like this.
i just wish i was at dat party... i would of told his family wat had happin dat nite.. like i always told my gurl cousins... its easy to have friends, but only have da friends dat will be der fo u wen u need dem to most....
"Jordan, may u RIP and shine down on ur family my nigg!"
Granted, this is all hearsay but it does some more perspective to the debate.
Anyone who has lived/worked in Oakland for more than 5 minutes knows that Oakland, especially around the Broadway Jack London Square area, is filled with packs of bored kids looking for trouble. These kids are bullet magnets. And now we have them rioting and smashing cars (yee-haw!) because they feel like they have a political crusade. Nice fucking section 8 life.
Was that written by Celie Johnson?
HA!!