“At first glance, former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle appears to be facing a stiff mandatory sentence for the involuntary manslaughter killing of Oscar Grant – anywhere from five to 14 years in prison.
But it’s not that simple.
For starters, Mehserle’s lawyers can argue for probation, with no prison time. Although one state law requires an increased prison term for using a gun during a felony, another law allows a judge to grant probation for involuntary manslaughter – and several legal analysts said Judge Robert Perry would have that option when he sentences Mehserle.”
*****
There is one mention in the piece that the judge may be unwilling to lighten the sentence due to street protests…
The overwhelming police force summoned by Oakland and its mutual aid pacts was not able to stop property damage and looting. Despite police from Fremont, Vallejo, Berkeley, San Francisco and perhaps even hundreds of California HIghway patrol, protests lasted until after 11pm when Russel and I stopped our shift.
The protest at 14th and Broadway was shut down soon after the 8pm end time of the authorized speakout. The intersection was closed to traffic but was completely surrounded by thick lines of cops at each cross street. When the mic shut down, some people tried to march. Cops even began advancing on the crowd at one point only moments after the end of the program.
There were probably over 1000 people in attendence. Some left after the speakout but others came. What was clear was that the incredible cost of paying so many cops did not yield the desired result: I saw stores that had windows smashed and a couple were looted (jewelry store, Foot Locker, few others). Many windows broken, mostly corporate. Lots of graffiti and some small fires. So far about 50 arrests.
It strikes me that the overwhelming force was used to disrupt and prevent a march. However, the strategy of using so many cops to close streets and chase people meant that the crowd was in small clumps, each equally capable of taking a side street and doing what they wanted. It was also noted that stores that were damaged were left COMPLETELY unsecured by police even though they had hundreds at their disposal. Even a few cops in those places could have helped the small businesses they had earlier claimed to want to protect.
The Afghanistan approach, or massive military style DID NOT achieve its objective! Try winning hearts and minds next time!
The following are links to helpful sites if you are trying to follow the coverage from Oakland. We’ll try to have updates from the ground as soon as they start to arrive.
In solidarity with the community, Copwatch awaits the verdict in the Mehserle trial in Los Angeles. We grieve and rage at the injustice of Oscar Grant’s killing and we condemn excessive and undue force from police and all law enforcement. As a group of citizens concerned about police misconduct, we have followed this case together with the many other cases of police brutality locally and nationally. We respect and stand with the community organizing that has been ongoing in response to this violence. And we commend the courage and dedication of those witnesses who recorded the violent and illegal BART police response on the platform and who came forward with their recordings.
We are preparing for the day of the verdict, in conversation as a group, and with other organizations and community members. We will be in the streets and will respond to witness reports as best we can to serve and support the community at this time. In the long run, we will continue to foster community-based efforts to monitor and observe police behavior. After the verdict is announced, no matter what it is, and after the crowds and politicians go home, we will still need to address the question of how to protect communities from police murders and attacks.
Copwatch has been monitoring police activity in the East Bay for over 20 years, and draws on a powerful legacy of community-based recording and resistance to police brutality and discriminatory policies that has roots in the Black Panther Party. We draw on this history to recognize the importance and need for civilian oversight of law enforcement personnel and agencies. Struggle existed before the verdict in the Mehserle trial. And this struggle will continue. This means we must continue to organize.
However, we must organize outside of this system that murders young Black men in Oakland and across the United States on a regular basis. We cannot hope to succeed if we continue to send a mixed message to our communities. We cannot claim to understand that there is corruption, racism and bias built into the structure of this society and then continue to press for justice from this very same, unjust system.
We need to work together to find solutions beyond police in our communities. Historically, increased police presence is not a solution that helps poor communities. Police and law enforcement cannot solve the problems of poverty and unemployment that are at the core of crime in these neighborhoods.
We imagine that a culture of responsibility and accountability means each of us asking about our own long-term commitments to stopping police brutality. How can we work together to hold agents of the state accountable? How can we remember Oscar Grant by continuing with the momentum of organized resistance that his life and murder further catalyzed? We must continue this momentum and fight the gang injunctions together. We must learn to stop calling the police into our homes and lives and develop alternatives to police. We must continue to report the abuse that we see.
There are many ways to continue the work of gaining justice for Oscar Grant and all the other victims and survivors of police violence. Join a group, go to a Know Your Rights training, learn the law, challenge increasing police power, demand that your city give money for education and not a dime for specialized weapons for police.
Come to a Copwatch meeting!
Mondays 7pm
2022 Blake Street
Berkeley CA 94705
COMMUNITY BASED POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY
FREE CLASS STARTING SEPTEMBER 1st
6pm on Mondays
Study the history of police, civilian review, gang injunctions, community control, immigration and the law, prison-industrial complex and much more! This course is offered for credit through the DeCal program at UC Berkeley. Members of the public are welcome to attend!
A verdict is expected SOON in the case of the Police Officer who
murdered Oscar Grant on a Friutvale BART platform 18 months ago! If you are in the Bay Area:
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
WHEN THE VERDICT COMES, GATHER AT 6PM AT 14th AND BROADWAY
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
**WHY SHOULD YOU COME?**
1. Because WE WILL NOT BE DIVIDED. Massive street protests were the only thing that forced Mehserle’s arrest. Lets remind ourselves that the streets are where people are strong together, where real change is won.
2. Because WE WILL NOT BE PACIFIED. Our anger is justified. It does not need to be “vented” or “cooled-down”. If anything, we need more resistance, more action, more mobilization.
3. Because WE ARE THE VICTIMS OF POLICE VIOLENCE, not the cause of it. Police are the only “outside agitators” in Oakland, and their violent behavior is what concerns us. We all know that police will blame the victim to try and justify their violence, by calling us violent. We won’t be manipulated.
4. Because THIS FIGHT IS NOT OVER. Whatever the verdict, our struggle continues. There is a long way to go to get justice for Oscar Grant, and for all victims of police violence. We need to stay united and active, to end police violence in our communities.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
**HELP US MAINTAIN A SAFE SPACE!**
While the gathering does not have an official “permit”, organizers still intend to maintain a safe space for everyone, and need your help to respect the tone of this rally. The rally will be in the intersection of 14th and Broadway. Organizers are also not planning a march and want to avoid arrests or police activity within this space. Please do not invite police to enter this space or provoke the police from anywhere within or close by to this space. Please do tell everyone you know about this gathering – the best safety is in numbers.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
**HOW TO PREPARE!**
1. Text “follow justiceforoscar” to 40404. You’ll get a text when the verdict comes down and updates about what happens at the protest.
2. Write the legal hotline number (415-285-1011 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 415-285-1011 end_of_the_skype_highlighting) on your arm or body. Call this number to report arrests or to get legal support if you are arrested..
3. Bring earplugs for you (and some to share). OPD has recently purchased a LRAD sonic “crowd control” device.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
**DON’T BE FOOLED!**
The downtown gathering 14th and Broadway is being put on by legit community organizers who have been working for Justice for Oscar Grant for the last 18 months. Sadly, in recent days there has been a concerted effort by the mayor of Oakland, the OPD, and certain non-profits to disrupt our rally and keep people from gathering together. Please inform yourself and others! Many of those counter-organizing against our 14th and Broadway gathering have done nothing to fight for justice for Oscar Grant, and are more concerned with preventing property damage (helping the police) than they are with getting justice for Oscar Grant.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
NEXT STEPS:
This is not over! There is much new information that has become available during the trial, including the fact that Oscar Grant’s autopsy showed that Officer Tony Pirone’s beating caused head injuries to Oscar Grant before he was shot by Johannes Mehserle. Our organizing is not over, not even close! Look for information about actions demanding charges for Tony Pirone and Marisol Domenici, the firing of all the other police on the platform, charging the BART police with federal civil rights violations, and the disbanding of the BART police department.
“In preparation for the verdict, the Oakland Police Department has conducted training exercises for crowd control and riots. Once the jury begins its deliberations, officers will be on standby, and the department is instructing its officers not to take vacation during that time. An Oakland desk officer added that departments around the Bay Area are also preparing to act when the verdict arrives.
Police are also monitoring fliers, notices and social networking websites, including Twitter and Facebook, in an attempt to gain early notice of mass gatherings or public events.”
*****
Well, it shouldn’t be too difficult for anyone watching to see who the OPD serves – it certainly isn’t “justice.” Let’s hope some of their fear translates into real consequences for Mehserle.
“In response to a request by The Times, the court on Thursday released videos of the shooting that have been played for jurors in court, including some footage that has never before been made public.
Both sides contend that the footage supports their account of what led up to the shooting.
Alameda County prosecutors argue that the videos show Mehserle looking toward his holster as he drew his .40-caliber handgun and then pointing his handgun out in front of himself in plain view before he fired. Mehserle never told other officers at the station that the shooting was an accident or that he had meant to grab his Taser. Instead, he told one officer: “I thought he was going for a gun.””
*****
Unfortunately, there is no embed code currently available for the video.
“Back to the meeting that took place this past Mon. June 21st. Several non-profit organizations met with Mayor Dellum’s office to discuss strategies in which more “violence” can be prevented should the verdict of the trial be in favor of Mehserle and his defense team. The meeting was attended by representatives from the following orgs: Ella Baker Center, Causa Justa, Oakland Rising, Urban Peace Movement, Youth Uprising – and there may have been others. Ideas and possible outcomes of the meeting include: Holding Community Meetings in different areas across Oakland both before and after the verdict of the trial, creating public service announcements, and warning youth that there will be outsiders advocating “violence”.
A few things to keep in mind
- For those that have fully participated in this Justice movement from the beginning until now, we have heard over and over again that the rebellion in downtown Oakland on Jan. 7th and 14th was lead and carried out by “outsider anarchists” Bullshit! Completely untrue! CAPE was the first to voice these lies. And ironically, the latest reactionary to repeat this nonsense is allegedly from Youth Uprising. (However not surprising considering the recent visit from U.S. Attorney Gen. Eric Holder to Youth Uprising).
-To a certain extent, yes it is true that there were outsiders carrying out violent acts on the 7th and 14th, they are commonly referred to as the police(over 90% of OPD lives outside of Oakland), and rest assured they will always play this role when the righteous anger of the community leads to destruction of property/vandalism, but in no way shape or form did the people of Oakland participate in any violent acts on the 7th and 14th.
-Although the Mayor’s office and the non-profits will never admit it – it was the united contingent of Oakland Youth and Radicals that made sure city officials got off their reactionary arses and put that cop in jail on Jan. 13th – one day before another rally and demonstration was planned for downtown Oakland.
-Lastly, it was the sustained effort of the Justice for Oscar Grant Movement that organized to make sure that for the first time in the history of California a police officer is being tried for murder while in the line of duty, and CAPE as a coalition of non-profits did not participate in this sustained movement for justice. There are still individuals from that coalition who participate and do integral work in the pursuit of justice.
-But the non-profits are seemingly looking to pick up right where they left off and play the same role in the end as they did in the beginning. But whatever role any of us play, if this former police officer is not sentenced to spend a considerable amount of time in jail for murdering an unarmed man as he lay face down with another officer’s knee on his neck, there is no series of community meetings and no PSA that will prevent the people of Oakland from expressing their anger about another young life taken far too soon by a cop whose salary is paid with public funds.”
*****
*****
More than one in ten American’s is black, yet there are no black jury members in Mehserle’s trial. Privileged White Americans have a much different experience of the police than their African American counterparts. Plus, they’re pretty likely to have a lot of racialized fear. Can we expect a fair trial from such a jury?
“The BART Police Department will start redistributing Tasers to its force this week, nearly two months after the use of stun guns was halted so that officers could be retrained and updated on new department policies.
“Beginning this week and hopefully completed by next Monday or Tuesday, we will redeploy Tasers to all police zones,” police Cmdr. Dan Hartwig said Monday night, adding that officers will be able to choose whether or not to use them.”
*****
Well, I guess this confirms the idea that the removal of tasers was a red herring. Gotta love a good “policy review!”