SFist: Todd Mehserle's Angry Internet History

maqa

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 14:57:11 -0800

This article actually is presenting useful information. In Johannes Meserle's defense, information is being put out about the positive aspects of his background - education, he's a father about to take on family responsibilities, had a good upbringing by conscientious parents who sought to instill goos values, etc. We may discount these things as irrelevant, but they are not so to many. On the other hand, Oscar Grant's prosecutors of Mehserle have put out no such positive profile of him! He is also a father who was in the process of taking on family responsibilities, had a caring family, etc. So many are left with the inevitable picture of a responsible, after all, a policeman, with a good background who was in danger from a an irresponsible drifter from a culture of criminality - the black community, in trouble with the law, etc. That is where this research comes in - it shows there is racism and possibly violence in Mehserle's background. Or actually I see the article doesn't point to the racist posts, but they were found. (It also doesn't explain what point there is to doing this, as I have explained.) You will see at the trial how this picture is painted. Character witnesses are a part of such trials, and include family influences, even if we ourselves would rather leave that alone. The murder is clear from the videos. Why/how Meserle would do such a thing is not. To me, the facts about his father, if they are facts, can help explain this. (The writer has been very transparent as to what his evidence is and isn't.) How often has a white police officer been convicted of murdering a black person? In the whole history of urban police forces - starting in 1905 - once. Already the prosecutor is falling down on the job. Grant's community will stay alert and if justice comes, it'll be through their, and our, efforts.

dow

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 22:36:13 -0800

My dad was a bi-polar meth-head and child molester who committed suicide in his girlfriend's home while the police were banging on the door. Better arrest me now! I'm liable to do something rash by virtue of my father's insanity/instability/criminal history. Was it a slow news day or something? This is just pathetic. And anybody who assumes that Johannes has a temper issue just because his father may have is likely engaging in some hard wishful thinking, and just believing whatever supports their world view. Why not post any "good" or loving or nice things posted by this person you identify as Johannes' father that you found in your creepy internet stalking? I'm sure his entire internet history isn't just a bunch of conservative banter and alleged angry hate speech. Oh... but I forgot. It seems like you have an agenda, Mr. Walker. And you've already condemned Johannes as guilty without having all the facts. Or even knowing if the "facts" you do have are accurate. Great reporting!

rachdiggs

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:51:08 -0800

@ brock... babe, i haven't been pandering to the gays for almost a year now! you gotta update your info :) i'm now following your every word from lovely brooklyn. i might only drop in occasionally but i'm reading always. with all love and respect and from a big sfist fan - i'm sorry you're getting this blowback but know it for what it is... some serious responses questioning the tenuous links in this post, when it is such a serious and awful allegation. that's all... and now i'm going back into hibernation. see you around here someday...

hunterw

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:50:26 -0800

Hey everybody. I waited to comment on this thing because I figured it might provoke a strong reaction. Basically everything I have to say is there in the post. I was very clear about how I got the info and that his father's beliefs don't necessarily say anything about Johannes. I didn't go through anyone's garbage or otherwise violate anyone's privacy to make this post. All of these statements were out in the open online. These posts were also made using variations of his real name and including biographical info on sites where users can choose to have a greater degree of anonymity if they want. I understand that people aren't necessarily used to dealing with info from messageboards and Myspace, but it's not as if this information isn't important to the story. If his father was politically active in a more traditional way wouldn't we be hearing about it? (e.g. Johannes Mehserle, whose father is chairman of the local Green Party... or Johannes Mehserle, whose father is is a well-known community organizer) Todd Mehserle's political involvement may have been confined to the internet, but it's no less pertinent. Despite presenting the numerous details linking these comments to Todd Mehserle, I readily admit that we can't say this is him with 100% certainty. This is why I reached out to email addresses associated with the posts and the Myspace profile to give them a chance to comment on this. If this isn't the same Todd Mehserle it would be very easy to resolve this and publish a correction. There still has been no response and I think that silence speaks volumes.

FruitvaleBart

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:37:28 -0800

I find this very relevant as clearly the ex-cop clearly has anger management problems as well. And come on , can't anyone here connect the dots...how many Mehserle's do you have in Napa..this story has reported that his parents had to split Napa http://ucdavisaggies.cstv.com/sports/w-track/mtt/mehserle_marikka00.html http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/09/MNQV156LHC.DTL&tsp=1 : Johannes Mehserle, 27, resigned from the BART police force Wednesday, avoiding an interview with internal affairs investigators who were trying to obtain his statement about why he shot Oscar Grant as the 22-year-old supermarket worker lay facedown at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland. Mehserle, who grew up in the city of Napa, was a 2000 graduate of New Technology High School there and a 2006 graduate of Napa Valley College Criminal Justice Training Center. Until recently, he lived with his girlfriend in Lafayette. She recently gave birth to their first child. Mehserle had worked for the BART police for about two years. According to a family friend, Mehserle's parents have left their home in Napa because of death threats stemming from the BART incident."

FruitvaleBart

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:32:05 -0800

Generic

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:26:01 -0800

Oh.

EclipseTuliphead

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:14:51 -0800

This is a pathetic excuse for a pathetic article, and you know it.

grumblor

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:22:48 -0800

No, this does not provide any piece of any puzzle. You can't judge someone by what a relative of theirs says about their own beliefs. And it is still speculation that this person is related to the officer. This should never have been (printed?)

manys

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 01:08:48 -0800

Sure the apple can fall far from the tree, but, y'know...people use that version much more rarely.

jameth

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 00:04:28 -0800

but but but it's _libel_ when it's on the internet!!

Brock Keeling

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:25:09 -0800

in the absence of much disclosure from the officer himself, it's a natural impulse to try to find a reason/explanation behind what is unarguably a tragedy. And everyone looks to the people surrounding the players in an attempt to "make sense" of something like this. Is it a definitive answer, or a responsible thing to base an entire case on? No, but it might provide a piece of the puzzle.

Sivart13

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:58:07 -0800

I'm sure this article is easily as fucked up and misguided as anything this fellow has posted up on the internet. I vote for taking it down, not out of censorship but as a matter of taste.

aleph1

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:18:45 -0800

I have to agree with most of the comments. This is a rather pathetic attempt at guilt by association. Yes, it is not uncommon for children to adopt their parents belief. But the same is true of the opposite. Whether the man is guilty of murder or manslaughter will be determined by a proper investigation and a court of law. If there is evidence that it was a hate crime I am sure the prosecution will dig into his past if deemed necessary. Until then, this is little more than lynch mob incitement, and little better than the behavior of those punks that trashed Oakland.

Brock Keeling

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:52:14 -0800

i'm so glad you could take some time out from shamelessly pandering to san francisco gays to comment on sfist! how kind of you to drop in.

rachdiggs

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:32:32 -0800

Also Brock... you don't even HAVE DEFINITIVE PROOF that this guy is the same guy. Obviously all signs point to Todd, but it's pretty shitty to make what other people have already pointed out is a possibly unfair association between this guy's dad's internet rants and whether or not this guy might be a murderer, when you don't even know for sure that it's the right dude! Yeah, yeah, disclaimer at the end but it's weak. It's like when newspapers print scientific studies like "no evidence was found of a link between burritos and cancer" and the headline is "BURRITO CANCER NOT RULED OUT." OMG what if?!?! You should be proud that your commenters expect a certain level of journalistic integrity, so we're surprised at this. You should not be proud of this post.

Generic

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:26:58 -0800

What's preposterous? That he mistook his taser for a side arm? Cause it's really, really not preposterous. In fact, it's the most widely speculated upon theory by major news outlets. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a component of the legal defense.

xgote

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:18:30 -0800

comments system is bugged... Sorry torque, comment not directed at you :(

xgote

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:10:56 -0800

That's a presumptuously offensive observation.

torque

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:21:53 -0800

You have GOT to be pulling my leg, here. This is a pathetic imitation of journalism. I suppose I should be used to that, living in San Francisco, but really, even the Examiner's worst days did better than this crap.

Joel

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:55:33 -0800

Did I say that you shouldn't be outraged? Absolutely not. I'm just saying that the fact this happens on average once every seven years, while still too often, probably doesn't require paranoia.

Generic

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:28:40 -0800

You're right. If this kind of thing happened more frequently it might justify outrage. As it stands, it's just a tempest in a teapot.

jacksevanroo

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:11:39 -0800

Holy shit, I didn't realize my dad's opinions could be used against me in the court of public opinion. For the record, my dad is batshit insane, and doesn't speak for me.

DaveRocks

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:39:18 -0800

Has anyone looked into the internet history of Hunter Walker's parents? I imagine they must be creepy, obsessed, internet stalkers with a lot of free time on their hands.

Joel

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:11:30 -0800

You can call me paranoid after they stop killing kids at my BART station, thanks. Is this something that's happened since? Often? No. There have been five shootings in 35 years of the BART police, the last one in 1992.

akires

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:08:42 -0800

this is lame, creepy and wrong to judge son based on father. it is possible for the to apple fall far from the tree ya know

Generic

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:08:42 -0800

Sense a "lost my old man to meth" tie-in.

EllyMental

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:05:27 -0800

I'm sure his point is to show that apples don't fall far from trees. Alas, if all the Bart cop did was make an angry post...

aynne

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:04:28 -0800

hmm..last time I checked slander was illegal.

bluecanary

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:39:54 -0800

That goes double for me.

Generic

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:38:36 -0800

You can call me paranoid after they stop killing kids at my BART station, thanks. By the way, what's the NRA's official position on the whole "eat-my-taser-punk-oh-shit-that-was-my-glock" imbroglio? Wait, lemme guess.

Sabacc

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:17:27 -0800

THIS JUST IN: blood not as thick as water.

xgote

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:01:58 -0800

You're paranoid. Not every right winger is like that.

Brock Keeling

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:52:37 -0800

caylee needs a proper burial!

periqueblend

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:50:36 -0800

This depressing post is actually par for the course with these types of cases. One only need ask oneself, what would Nancy Grace do? How would she create out of whole cloth, innuendo, and wild supposition a day two (or three of four) story? What would Greta Van Sustern put on the record?

DJBurrito

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:36:02 -0800

I want my 3 minutes back....

yehudasf

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:34:33 -0800

By merely existing, this article is creepy, much like Soviet-era family guilt, thought crime creepy. Does this "publication" have no standards extant? Seeking family "crazy quotes" does nothing to advance the cause of an informed public in relation to the BART shooting.

TheCharlie

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:31:10 -0800

I think his dad's history points to reasons for his own actions, but I also agree that digging up his dad's skeletons is mildly unfair.

Angrybat

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:26:58 -0800

I gotta go with everyone else and call bullshit on this. If it were the cop's angry Internet history, maybe you'd have something there, but his Dad's? Jesus. God forbid people try to evaluate me based on something my Dad said.

mindful_indulgence

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:32:04 -0800

spent all his money on smack, but wrote me songs on my birthday. hot indeed.

withak

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:29:11 -0800

How long before we have a candidate for a major office with an embarrassing myspace/facebook/blog/whatever history?

travin

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:25:03 -0800

This article is creepin' me the fuck out, man. wtf?

Brock Keeling

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:23:41 -0800

your father sounds hot.

Generic

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:22:47 -0800

* arguments with liberals * "Sadamm" * Fox News * sexual comments about Bill Clinton * anger management It's as though there's some right-wing petri dish filled with stem cells perfectly grown to create a moment of cultural zeitgeist like this. Of course he shoots & kills a black kid. It's just part of his programming.

mindful_indulgence

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:19:57 -0800

This article should be taken down. My father was a heroin junkie, child-support deadbeat - guess my brother is screwed, huh? Get real.

wsanders

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:19:54 -0800

Sorry, but this article is only KRON-worthy.

Ciaran

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:11:37 -0800

Because everything that happens on the Internet is REALLY IMPORTANT!

kmsinsf

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:08:41 -0800

This article served to remind me that EVERYTHING you do/write/say on the internet is memorized forever and will never go away. I guess I forget that sometimes. That has so many implications if you stop and think about it.

EclipseTuliphead

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:02:15 -0800

Seriously, what is the point of this article? Who cares? Did his dog shit in the yard? OMG NEWS!!

grumblor

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:59:33 -0800

Who cares? What does this have to do with anything? You going to dig up something on his mother's cousin's neighbor's uncle next?