Slowed down video shows officer Mehserle bringing his left hand towards his pistol just before shooting Oscar Grant in the back, yet he fires the gun before his left hand has reached a support position. If he knew he was firing his pistol instead of his Taser, he would never have done this, and the video shows why. The recoiling pistol whacks Mehserle’s left hand, which he then jerks upwards, away from the impact:
The fatal second (37;05 – 37;29 of KTVU’s highlighted cell phone video of the shooting, slowed to 1/2 second a frame). Red circle (added) shows the first appearance of officer Mehserle’s muzzle flash.
The movements of Mehserle’s off-hand were unconscious. There is no way he could have faked them, making this, really, video proof of Taser confusion. Nobody would knowingly fire a pistol just before his off hand had reached a support position because he would know that the recoil would bash his off hand. He would either keep his off hand away, or he would wait until the off hand was in a support position before firing.
A Taser, in contrast, has no recoil to speak of, so if Mehserle thought he was firing his Taser, he would not anticipate recoil. The fact that the recoil smacked his off-hand proves that he did not anticipate recoil, which proves Taser confusion, or at the very least is nearly conclusive evidence of it.
The video also belies Orloff’s claim that both of Grant’s hands were on his back when he was shot
The verdict of involuntary manslaughter means the jury did find the shooting to be accidental. At least they got that much right. But if they saw that the shooting was accidental, how could they find criminal negligence? Are they saying that Mehserle did not even have cause to Taser Oscar Grant?
That’s about the only possibility. They must have believed Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff’s claim that Grant had been in a compliance position when he was shot:
… both of Grant’s hands were behind his back, a position hands are commonly placed in by police officers in order to handcuff individuals, when the shot was fired into his body.
If Grant’s hands were both behind his back, why do anything but handcuff him? But Orloff is wrong. The instant after the shooting, Grant’s hands were both on his back, but only because he was just starting to swing his own left arm up onto his own back at the moment Mehserle fired.
Start with a frame grab of the fatal instant, when Mesherle’s muzzle flash first appears. Grant is in the act of swinging his left arm (circled in blue) up onto his back:
To verify that the blue circle is showing Grant’s left arm, look at the slow motion video. In the first frame of the animation below, officer Pirone (kneeling on Grant’s shoulder and neck) has just gotten control of Grant’s right hand and pulled it up behind Grant’s back. As the motion starts, Pirone lets go and draws back (presumably in response to Mehserle’s Taser warning).
Look at the spot where Pirone’s arm pulls back behind his own body. From this same spot in the image, Grant’s left arm then appears, as he starts to swing his own arm up towards his own back (presumably also in response to Mehserle’s Taser warning). One frame (1/15th of a second) after Grant’s left arm starts to swing up, Mehserle’s muzzle-flash appears, then Grant finishes swinging his own arm up onto his own back:
Sequence starts and ends with the black frame.
Grant did not have both hands on his back when he was shot. The key “fact” that District Attorney Orloff used to justify murder charges turns out to be false, and Orloff has known it for a year and a half. That is how long ago I called his office and told one of his attorneys what my frame-by-frame analysis reveals and where to find it (here on this Error Theory blog, 2/17/09, where I also showed Mehserle’s off-hand getting slammed by his gun’s recoil).
Orloff’s lie here is one of omission. He should have told the people of Oakland that he had discovered that he was wrong about both of Grant’s hands being behind his back when he was shot. Instead, in a supreme act of political cowardice, he pandered to the racist mob that is out for injustice.
Even worse was his lie of commission.
Orloff lied, people are gonna die
Two weeks after the shooting, District Attorney Orloff justified murder charges with the following assertion:
What I feel the evidence indicates is an unlawful killing done by an intentional act . . . There was nothing that would mitigate it to something less than murder.
This was before officer Mehserle had said anything about confusing his pistol for his Taser, but Orloff had clear evidence of Taser confusion from the reports of other officers, who immediately told investigators about Mehserle’s Taser warning. Orloff had also seen the video of Mehserle looking down at his gun, then up at his fellow officer, in shocked confusion:
Immediately after firing his pistol, Mehserle’s jaw drops in shocked surprise.
Given this substantial evidence that the shooting was an accident, no honest jury could come anywhere near to finding that the shooting was beyond a reasonable doubt not an accident. Any direct evidence of an accident creates tons of reasonable doubt. Orloff never should have pressed murder charges. Involuntary manslaughter was the worst officer Mehserle could have been convicted of without a gross miscarriage of justice (and even that depends on the jury’s being misled by Orloff’s false claim that Grant’s hands were both behind his back when he was shot).
Orloff should really be charged with prosecutorial misconduct. He had clear evidence that the shooting WAS an accident and in another act of supreme political cowardice simply lied about this fact in order to appease the racist Oakland mob. They wanted their 200 pounds of white flesh and Orloff did everything in his power to give it to them.
Racially biased law is tyranny
Now the racist mob is rioting and may well rack up a death toll. After the criminal rioters themselves, the biggest share of blame should go to Orloff, for pressing murder charges when there was clear evidence that Grant’s shooting was an accident. Instead he assumed that our black community is grotesque enough to want a police officer who is not guilty of murder to be punished for it anyway, and he pandered to that evil. Talk about anti-black racism, presuming that the black community as a whole is the worst moral trash.
That element does exist, but the last thing any responsible person would do is cater to it. It is not the whole community, and hopefully is far from the majority, but whatever its proportion, it should not be given any legitimacy. Government should only serve that part of the population that seeks truth-based justice because the rest are out to violate individual rights, making them a tyrannous element, which even when it attains a majority has no more legitimacy in our system of government than a tyrannous king. Our elected representative all swear an oath never to side with the forces of tyranny.
The press is also culpable for suppressing the truth about Grant’s left hand never being under the officers’ control. I badgered every broadcast news desk in the bay area for months show the frame by frame video to the public. I badgered every print reporter who was covering the story that they had to tell the public that Orloff’s stated grounds for murder charges was provably false. Several assured me that they were taking a look, and I believe them. If my video findings had been aggravating instead of mitigating there can be little doubt they would have been headline news.
Now the racist legal lieutenant of Racist in Chief Obama is thinking about subjecting Mehserle to double jeopardy with a federal civil rights prosecution. Evil trash.
The only one who should be prosecuted for violating anyone’s civil rights is Orloff, for flat lying to his constituents that there was no evidence that the shooting was accidental. He knew there was clear evidence of Taser confusion, making an honest murder conviction impossible. He was hoping he could get Mehserle in front of a racist Oakland jury, willing to legally lynch an innocent man.
Uh, so what? He still (negligently) used deadly force and needs to be held accountable. The bigger problem is that it was too easy for Mehserle to mistake his pistol for a taser. I understand the thought process behind making the taser look & feel like a pistol (easier to train), but this sort of deadly mistake was bound to happen.
And yes, the conduct of the various politicians is horrible, but they’re pandering to their constituency who have felt (and been actually abused) by those in power, specifically the police. Their distrust of the police is well-earned.
andyinsdca: hi, who are you to judge the consequences of this act, and you are talking of police brutality on thoses people just so easy to say it, IT makes you look ignorant to thoses facts
and ignorant to the police’s handeling of the criminals. bye 🙄
The consequences are all that matters – a person (under the color of authority) negligently killed someone. If you or I did that, we’d definitely be headed off to jail. Police officers need to be held to a much higher standard because of the responsibility they’re given (to whom much is given, much is demanded) and the fact that they’re “trained.”
I have angered a couple of folks on PoliceLink, a Police news site I frequent, by expressing my opinion of former Officer Johannes Mehserle excuse that he meant to grab his Taser but grabbed his service pistol by mistake, and didn’t notice that it was a PISTOL, and NOT a Taser, and then fired the fatal round into the back of Oscar Grant. I just don’t buy that.
Grant was, as I understand it, handcuffed and face down on the rail platform when Mehserle fired his weapon.
I can’t understand how, even in the *heat of the moment*, an officer, even a rookie officer, could make such a horrific mistake. That was where I was taken to task by a retired officer that also posts on PoliceLink. He insisted that it’s an error that would be easy to make. I believe he is wrong.
I have talked to officers that are Taser certified and have been told that Taser training specifically states that you carry the Taser on your *OFF* side, meaning on the opposite side of your handgun, and also, a recommendation of carrying it in a *cross draw* position was mentioned as well.
Carried in either, or both manners, off side AND cross draw, there is no way to mistake your handgun for a Taser. It would be a deliberate and specific action to employee the Taser, one entirely different from the action required to draw your service weapon.
In other words, you shouldn’t be carrying a Taser on your *gun side* to begin with. Former officer Mehserle was either carrying his Taser in a manner not advised in any training criteria that I can find, or, he used the Taser as an excuse.
Either way, the case has been to trial and Mehserle has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Bottom line: Mehserle screwed the pooch and is going to pay the price. Even if this was purely an accident, there are still consequences.
TexasFred: hi, SO easy to judge thoses actions on what you conclude:
it’s like thoses who where as a mob, yelling” CRUCIFY HIM”. AND many did’nt have nothing to do with HIM, but where incited by the mob wanting his head; that ORLOF was the criminal in there; CAN’t you figure it out and see longer than your nose? i remember reading thoses words from you
Which read to discrediting BUSH ” like many have copied from ObAMA: It put you in a place where no one will beleive what else you say or write. 🙄
TexasFred, If you are going to comment on the article, at least read that damn article.
I don’t think you guys would be good to protect your loved one in front of a criminal; you defend your loved ones, and think of the consequences only after.the safety of your ownes are taken care of, not vice versa
I find it hard to believe that the shooter could not recognize the difference in the feel and look of his gun–opposed to a taser–let alone the it was on carried on the opposite side.
tadcf: hi, NOTHING will they find effective, because they don’t want to fix that disater.
just like, they don’t want to close the border same reason. bye 🙄
TSgt Cyst… I did… Thank you for your input…
ilovebeeswarzone… I’m not judging, just basing what I say on 33 years of personal experience carrying a gun and working to protect this nation, and the research I do in relation to police work, handgun evaluations and reviews and continuing police education…
What background do YOU have in Law Enforcement?
Tex-ass-Fred
If you did read the article, then kindly explain your comment, “Grant was, as I understand it, handcuffed and face down on the rail platform when Mehserle fired his weapon.” When the article clearly states “Grant did not have both hands on his back when he was shot. The key “fact” that District Attorney Orloff used to justify murder charges turns out to be false, and Orloff has known it for a year and a half. That is how long ago I called his office and told one of his attorneys what my frame-by-frame analysis reveals and where to find it (here on this Error Theory blog, 2/17/09, where I also showed Mehserle’s off-hand getting slammed by his gun’s recoil).” and there is video proof to support that assertion as fact.
In other words, are you a liar, an idiot, or both?
texasfred: hi, FROM what you are saying to me, OF course you have more experience than many; it’s even more easyer for you to apply more liniency toward a fellow officer, dont forget he was dealing with a criminal who was not hancuff[check video], who raise one arm up before the shot, :
how about the officer had intent to put the tazer in his gun pocket and the resisting criminal shifted that intent he was being with a criminal resistance who lifte up his arm, and he decide on tazer him, not shoot him, because in his mind he mentaly remove the gun to put the tazer in pocket: so the error is very possible to do for anyone, in the mitz of a instant where you are dealing wth a criminal: further more, THE criminal had ask for any trouble coming to him ,the first minute he decide to commit the crime which was why he was arrested and orderd to lye down,hands behinds his back: so the penalty should rest on the dead criminal, and not on the police officer, who did
not intend to shoot him, but had the right as a police officer in a resisting arrest to shoot him.
that did not happen, but the error happen, that is a human error, could have happen to all of us. bye
Personally I don’t give a damn what the video shows, I can’t believe an officer would shoot a guy who was face down in front of his partners in a crowded area in this day and time on purpose… This was an accident IMO, a set of incidents that led to the consequences. IF Oscar Grant complied with instructions he would be alive today PERIOD. IF Rodney King PULLED OVER when he was lighted, LA wouldn’t have had riots, IF morons quit blaming the PD for arresting them and start looking at why they are getting arrested, our nation would be much better off.
Sorry Oscar Grant is dead, but I’m even more sorry for the officer involved. My sympathy for Oscar grant is very low…Asshole should have STFU complied and fought the charges in court like civilized Americans do. Instead he’s dead…BFD.
As far as the DA…Plain and simple politic’n with a racial overtone to keep the ghetto rats voting for Dems…
ROBERT: nice to have you with us, thank you. bye 🙄
TSgt Cyst.. THIS story is NOT the only one on the net, I said, “Grant was, as I understand it, handcuffed and face down on the rail platform when Mehserle fired his weapon.”, that wasn’t an accusation, it was an observation, I’ll try to use smaller words in the future so you won’t have to strain your brain so hard… And thanks for confirming my 1st impression of you… Buh-bye now…
ilovebeeswarzone… How about the guy screwed up, regardless of his *intent* to use a Taser and NOT a .40, he screwed up and pulled a .40 and then pulled the trigger, for that, he has to answer…
He’s paying the price… There is NO EXCUSE for confusing a Taser with a service weapon, the shape and weight alone are that much different, and if carried correctly, there is almost no way for this type of fatal error to occur… I have NO idea WHY the guy shot him with a .40, but he did, oops, too bad, so sad, scratch one Oakland bad boy…
I don’t mourn the loss of, Grant, the guy that got shot, as I don’t mourn, nor question the sentence given to Mehserle for his actions… He fired the shot, that is a fact, and now he is paying the price for his error, regardless the cause OF that error…
As I said, “Even if this was purely an accident, there are still consequences.”, and when you put a round in a guy, well, consequences are the order of the day…
@ Alec Rawls – Have you been able to get your film and analysis to the cops defense attorney? I would think he would surely be interested in it all. Even if he has not seen it yet, he should be interested now because there is surely the possibility of an appeal.
ilovebeeswarzone: Maybe a little harsh?…Oh well, I’m about sick of the blame game crap and really tired of the race baiting BS. This incident is typical in Kalifornia. WHY? because EVERY city dweller is a “VICTIM” first. No matter what happens it’s the Police’s fault. All the “Community leaders” and politicians have created this mentality and it’s resulted in a “Pool” of liberpuke voters, protests, violence and dead cops…
Why do you think the Marines are training in LA with the LAPD in preparation for Afghanistan deployment? It’s because the similarities are many.. An ignorant population corrupt politicians, drugs and gangs…Kandahar, Kabul and LA…trifecta.
ROBERT: hi, I am learning new words with you and i like that humor to go with it, thank’s bye 🙄
I wonder what the judge gave that officer.
The judge will probably give him the max under the conviction. It’s LA, the cop was white, the dead guy is black politicians are involved, the DOJ is investigating and the media is all over it. The officer is DONE.
No, it was Oakland, not LA.
I did get my video analysis to officer Mehserle’s lawyers. They got back to me and thanked me for it. I didn’t follow the trial closely enough to see if they tried to show the jury. I would have shown them both Grant’s hands, and Mehserle’s left hand getting whacked by his pistol. Both are plenty clear in the video, which is actually a bit clearer than the animations here, since the GIF animation process gives up some resolution.
Difficult to understand TexasFred’s contention that regardless of whether this was an accident, “there have to be consequences.” Under the law, a person can be criminally liable for recklessly creating a dangerous situation from which injuries ensue. That is the meaning of “criminal negligence.”
It is perfectly clear in the present case who recklessly created the dangerous situation. It was Oscar Grant, who chose to fight with the police for 30 seconds to keep them from getting control of his arms as he struggled to keep them in front of him on the ground, where he could have had a weapon. Under what principle of law should officer Mehserle be criminally liable for Oscar Grant’s reckless act?
Maybe the jurors will explain, but I’m pretty sure they must have bought the claim that Grant’s hands were both behind his back when he was shot, which would have made it unnecessary to Taser him at all. Then the decision to Taser could itself be seen as reckless. That’s why I would have made sure the jury saw that Grant’s hands were not behind his back.
Anybody know whether the defense attorney’s did show this? I didn’t see it mentioned in the papers, but that doesn’t mean much. They have their own negligence to cover for.
THIS is too bad, A clean cut officer having his life mess up because of a criminal out of the trafic, 🙄 and an error during an emergency
DrD, the trial was moved to LA county remember. Oakland was the scene of the incident but the trial got moved because of the inflamed DA’s statements and the public sentiment.
Alec, Good work on that video but the fact remains a man was killed by gun fire and the Officers were not under immediate threat. YOU or I shoot a guy in that position it’s a murder and we go to jail for life. I’m not saying I like it. I’m saying it’s a fact. Had he used his taser, there would be outrage because the man was on his face and not presenting a clear and present danger to the officers.
IF they would have found a gun on Oscar, then all of this would be a done deal.
I’m severely sympathetic to the officers involved in this for the reasons stated before. BUT that doesn’t exonerate the officer.
So how can this be avoided in future where a cop mistakes a gun for being a taser?
As TexasFred stated earlier, there are “Safety” measures in use that reduce the chance for the mistake. HUMAN’S are not perfect. We all make mistakes and the situation that caused this officer his freedom and career, rests on the dead dudes head. Grant initiated the actions and it was probably took into account, that’s why the lesser charge.
I hate to say what I’d like to see regarding the taser…I may get branded a neanderthal.
Make no mistake, the 2nd degree murder (ie: intent) charge was, IMNSHO, was political grandstanding. The lesser charge was appropriate and I’m glad that the cop was found guilty of that one and not the murder rap.
What really pisses me off, though, was the “firearm enhancement” on the rap; the cop is going to get an extra 4-8 yrs on his time because he used a gun in the commission of a felony. This is really stupid.
andy, CORRECT!
The firearm enhancement part, wouldn’t have been a factor in a few other states…This is the peoples republic of Kalifornia so any time a firearm is used, the gun did it! Or in other words, it allows liberpuke DA’s and Politicians to add time and in some cases CHARGE people with extra crimes based on the firearm.
To those readers of Flopping Aces that are current or former LEO’s. MOST Americans respect your profession and believe you do the job professionally and with dignity. I do a lot of work with my local LEO’s and they are a top notch bunch. This incident will pass, and hopefully the nations LEO’s will learn from it.
ROBERT: hi, IF we dont want mistakes to happen, we the public and government elected
in power jobs must give some rope to thoses who’s task are to deal with crimes of all sorts and not to forget of all diffrents degrees of thoses crimes , they would do a better job if they themself dont have to submit to unreasonebles restraints which they have to think about before making an often
life threatening decision, as they face dangerous elements of the country,not knowing
the next move of the oponent as they make an arrest, I am sure they think of their loved one who will be left without them if their life is taken away; SO, with the restrictions learned during their training that should be enouph to guide them ,because they have been choosen to do that job among many that did not pass , because they did not answered to the STANDERDS demanded to be a COP:
SO let’s respect them more as they are in the category of ELITES, and if one make a mistake, well check your own mistakes, and dont condem a police officer to be put at the same level as the criminal and be judge as one. remember that many criminals get away with murder,so dont misjudge a police officer for one mistake, and reprimand but dont ruin his life as he was on duty when the error happened which should be taken in HIGH CONSIDERATION as a heavy point to release him, as he can start to heal and live with his also broken hearth family. bye 🙄 the consequences
on thoses duals actions lead us to toward the criminal who start the action in doing crime which he was arrested.
ilovebeeswarzone:
I don’t disagree with that. That’s why I stated earlier that the real issue was Oscar Grants refusal to comply. Just like the Rodney King thing, had ol Rodney pulled over and complied, LA wouldn’t have burned and 5 cops wouldn’t have whooped his ass…
I am a neanderthal I guess, because I believe there should be consequences for your actions. Back in the day, you ran from a cop you not only got arrested, but when you got jail, you also took an ass whooping for it. (Not that I know first hand or anything…sigh..) One things for sure, I never ran from the po po again…
Grant was killed by ACCIDENT. He was killed because he didn’t comply and because the officer did something wrong. The punishment for the officer is better than the punishment Oscar Grant got.
I would have loved nothing better than to see the officer’s charges dismissed, Oakland needs a face lift and they would have burned it down.
ROBERT: I know what you meant,I liked your first comment; I kind of been carried away,
with trying to express my thoughts, I appologise. bye 🙄
Maybe it was the rolling eyes at the end of your comment that sends a message that you are dismayed by the comment…Either way. Carry on.
ROBERT: NO realy I just love that one and I always use it. IS that what it means?, I realy did’nt know it. JUST to say, we always learn something new in exchanging comment. that’s why I love this blog; A group of good friends and so smarts like you. bye 🙄
ROBERT: I look up dismay in the book and it’s the opposite of who I am.”depress never, discourage never and also for the rest in the book, never. but this yellow head
IS my favorite because of thoses eyes. bye 🙄
Yeah its pretty hard to grasp inflection in reading the authors writings. That’s more often than not the reason for flame wars. A person makes a comment that they may have been joking, but because you can’t gauge the authors facial expressions you don’t really know it was a joke…or Sarcasm or whatever…
Personally I’d change it to 😛 or 😀
You is a decent person after all. BTW I aint so smart, I’ve just lived a while and learned a lot the hard way.
Take care and shoot straight.
ROBERT: yes that is the fun part of blogs; WE have some militarys watching this blog sometimes when they can, and that’s why i dont miss a chance to play humor, and
some other join in, I love humor. but not sarcasm not me. bye. 😛 😀 ❗
Well I’m a pretty sarcastic SOB and I get in trouble for it all the time…Nothing I can’t handle though, it just sends folks off the deep end sometimes…
All good here
WHY would you be sarcastic,unless you where verbaly abuse. no other excuse except to get pleasure in being sarcastic. 🙄
I reckon it’s my nature… 😈
ROBERT : no 🙄
ilovebeeswarzone, okay man this man crush ya got on me needs to stop, we are running the fine readers of this blog off… 😯
no you stop first
Damn these good looks…Attention Flopping Aces staff; I have a stalker! 😐
ROBERT: dont go to bed ANGRY;
STAY up and fight.
THAT was fun thank you, bye
I’ll probably catch hell for this, but IMO: ***IF*** the perp is face down on the ground and handcuffed, there is no need to shoot him with a Taser either, (much less with a gun). There’s another officer already there, who can easily stop him from getting up, and there isn’t a whole hell of a lot of resisting you can do in that position. There is no indication from the video that he is going to roll-over and kick at the officers, and if you think it’s easy to get up and run from that kind of position, I say quite seriously get some handcuffs and try it. Outside of martial arts films, it isn’t that easy.
I agree with Texas that there is a huge difference in weight and feel between a taser and a pistol, so if Barney Fife can’t tell them apart, Andy needs to take away his bullets and put him on a desk job. I’ve handled both, and you can tell right away when you’ve pulled out a pistol. Maybe this officer is a rookie, I don’t know, but he screwed up and will pay the price for it. I wasn’t in the courtroom, so I’m not going to second-guess a jury.
Look, if we’re going to have officers wearing both weapons, we need to be sensible and have them put the one with bullets in a damn shoulder holster.
Ditto, You are not wrong in that line of thinking. The officer did do something wrong. He’s got to live with it too. There’s a reason he got the middle ground rather than the murder charge. He did something stupid but if Grant complied it wouldn’t have escalated to the point it did.
The officer could have got Murder2 or been let off, the manslaughter charge was the middle ground.
ditto: hi, WHERE is the UNIONS when you need them?,THIS guy ‘s video picture is dead on the last one, but he had resisted, for a time so the officer was expecting any abrut move, and also the intense heat of thoses instants had participated to the error: being on duty ,this should have wheight in the verdict,when you think of they are putting their life on the line when on duty; they are civil soldiers to protect the people, and catch criminals who have many chances to commit crimes many times before being cornered: for that ,this officer should have no prison terms,
and the judge should have said to stop his carreer as a police officer forever .:
BY TAKING into account of the future broken life and of his family ; that would have been a severe verdict enouph. also thinking of the low moral of his fellows officer who will have to face their criminals, and their reactions could be alter by this verdict,therefor putting their lifes in danger, why? because of the split second HESITATION. bye
A man is dead as a result of a terrible “mistake” made by a diligently trained officer of the law. Poor, poor Mehserle. How embarrassing it must be…to have been caught on video ending the life of yet another ruthless “ghetto rat”. Hey Robert, isn’t that what we’re supposed to call them? Yeah? Just checking.
An underpaid employee of a corporate giant can lose his/her job for ACCIDENTALLY not properly balancing a cash drawer by some insignificant margin; I imagine that’d pretty embarrassing too. But there is no sympathy for these people. If John Doe truly wanted to keep his graveyard shift at the local convenient store, he would have made damn sure that drawer balanced…right?
Mistakes are common, but not always acceptable. In some cases, mistakes are damn near unforgivable. Why some of you folks are so riled up about Mehserle’s sentence is beyond me. Intention or not, the man took a life. He took a father. He took a son. Were you hoping he’d get off with an “oops!” and a slap on the wrist? Seriously?
If I said I knew whether or not Mehserle actually intended to kill Oscar Grant, I’d be just as ignorant (God forbid) as ilovebeeswarzone. But as a victim of racial discrimination and unmerited mistreatment by a representative of the police force, I am not blind to the long and controversial history of poorly treated people of color by law enforcement. I do believe that this story would have had a different ending that night if the Bart police were called upon to apprehend a belligerently drunk, white frat boy (of which, there are plenty on any given Friday night).
I have also found that many Mehserle advocates have quietly racist opinions and have expressed opinions such as, “if Mr. Grant would have been quiet and not resisted arrest, he wouldn’t be dead today”. Was he throwing punches? Was he attempting to flee the scene? Nooooo…he was face-down on the filthy Fruitvale Bart Station floor. Whether he had one hand on his back and one hand that took a bit longer to find it’s way there, Grant was CLEARLY not actively resisting. I mean, good grief! I’d have been more of a nuisance if I had a good buzz going and some cop was egging me on as Pirone reportedly did, directly prior to the shooting.
And you pro-Mehserle, rally-happy folk gearing up for your big day in Walnut Creek need to give it a rest. Don’t rub salt in the wounds of those still mourning the loss of a man who truly did not deserve to die. The fact that you obvious suburbanites have decided to hold this demonstration within the “safe” and mostly Caucasian city limits of Walnut Creek says quite a bit. If you really feel your opinions are fair, just, and if you proudly stand behind your cause, raise your voice in Oakland. The heart of this entire trial IS Oakland; Walnut Creek is completely irrelevant. Grow a pair.
For those of you who think that this is merely the opinion of another biased minority, I’d like to make you aware of the opinions of my significant other, which MIRROR my own. He’s a Midwestern white boy with occasionally conservative tendencies who lived two years in the flatlands of Fruitvale. Just thought you should know.
Mr Suckanegg….Perhaps you should have read a few of the comments here before opening you mouth. But never the less I’ll attempt to save you from further embarrassment.
AS was stated earlier, the cop did do something wrong. SO did Oscar Grant. Perhaps if he complied with instructions he’d be alive and if he was wrongly accosted he’d have gotten paid too..(Liberpuke cali loves to pay folks for perceived “Injustice”)
Don’t go blaming the whole incident on the officer, the officer would have never reached for the taser or the gun had he been civil in his actions. You “Victims” have no culpability in anything do you? it’s all everyone’s fault but yours..Sad really but I don’t blame you, you guys are eating from the trough and know nothing else.
The officer got the “Middle Ground” charge which was IMO the best way. He killed the man, yep accidentally I’m 100% sure of it. Would a cop in a crowd deliberately murder someone? Please, if you believe that you are too far gone to help.
A mans life is a resume. The Officer had done good things prior to this incident, he saved lives, he put his life on the line for those in the community. All of that has to be considered. Oscar Grant initiated the action that cost him his life. Again in consideration. The Manslaughter conviction was the best possible outcome.
I wonder, do you weep and get outraged Cops are killed in the line of duty? I wonder do you feel the need to express your feeling when thugs are let out of prison and kill innocent people? Do you cry “Injustice” when cops are killed by felons? Or is it a one way street with you?
Please son, get a clue before you go jumpin in to grown folks conversations.
BTW, Ghetto Rats? That’s good and if the shoe fits wear the hell out of it..