Police Swarm Subway After Protests Over Shooting Turn Violent (VIDEO)

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO OF PROTESTS

OAKLAND, Calif. — Heavy police presence greeted Bay Area Rapid Transit commuters Thursday, a day after more than 100 people were arrested in violent protests over the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a transit police officer. At least three cars were set on fire, store windows were smashed and a police cruiser was vandalized in what started as a peaceful demonstration Wednesday over the Jan. 1 shooting of Oscar Grant. Police in riot gear threw tear gas to try to break up the demonstration.

"The crowd started to become more agitated, more hostile, started throwing stuff at the police," said Oakland Police spokesman Jeff Thomason. He said charges against those arrested include inciting a riot, assault on a police officer, vandalism, rioting and unlawful assembly.

Extra police were deployed to East Bay stations on Thursday. Officers patrolled BART headquarters to ensure calm during the agency's morning meeting, where many African-American community leaders expressed outrage over the killing of Grant.

An officer identified as Johannes Mehserle shot the 22-year-old on a BART station platform after responding to reports of men fighting on a train. Officers had pulled Grant and a few other men out of the train. The victim was lying face down on the platform when he was shot.

The shooting and events leading up to it were captured on amateur videos that have been broadcast on television.

Mehserle resigned from the transit agency shortly before he was supposed to be interviewed by investigators Wednesday. Mehserle's attorney did not respond to calls for comment.

Some experts who viewed the video clips speculated that Mehserle fired his gun because he believed Grant had a deadly weapon, while others think the officer had mistakenly his handgun for a stun gun.

"If he was under stress he would not be able to distinguish between a Taser and his firearm," said Bruce Siddle, founder of PPCT Management Systems, an Illinois company that trains law-enforcement officers in use-of-force.

BART police and the district attorney are investigating the shooting, and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums asked city police to investigate as well.

Grant's family has filed a $25 million wrongful death claim against BART and want prosecutors to file criminal charges against Mehserle.

"There were racial slurs directed at the young men," family attorney John Burris said Thursday. "But I have no evidence that this particular officer (Mehserle) directed racial slurs towards Oscar Grant."

Police have not classified the confrontation as a hate crime.

During the protest, some people threw bottles; a window of a fast-food restaurant and other downtown stores were smashed. No injuries were reported.

"We gave a dispersal order four to five times over a 20-minute period, then we had our officers go in and start making arrests," said Thomason, the police spokesman.

Dellums went to the protest scene Wednesday night to call for calm. He then led a group toward City Hall and spoke with them.

"Even with our anger and our pain, let's still address each other with a degree of civility and calmness and not make this tragedy an excuse to engage in violence," said Dellums, who is black. "I don't want anybody hurt, I don't want anybody killed."

Comments

[stevebest]

03:01 PM on 01/10/2009

they just executed a man in cold blood and asked civility of the ensuing lynch mob? They are as stupid as they are brutal, this is the second murder from a bart officer remember micheal pleasence?

[harrymellon]

06:32 PM on 01/10/2009

Cops are killing people all over the country. 20,000 troops have been permanently deployed in the USA also. They have been given all this power to prepare for insurrection due to the forced economic collapse. Just wait till people cant actually eat and arent handcuffed already.

[RTIII]

02:06 PM on 01/10/2009

Somehow I missed this until today, and I live one BART-stop away. This is frightening.

I went to find the video (gone from above), and did. Apparently there are a lot of videos of this and perhaps the best one hasn't been seen by anyone but the BART police themselves. There are two particularly useful videos that are on the net (that I found so far) where the angle is good, the one that shows the sho ooting most clearly is taken from the furthest left The one from the "center" position does show Oscar face down with another officer with his knee on his neck just as he's klld, but you only see the gum after it fired.

Someone pointed to this story, by far the best writing - best _reporting_ on the incident:

http://www.counterpunch.org/maher01092009.html

I'm re-posting because it's such good writing, everyone concerned with this type of issue should read it.
.

[concernvoter]

08:50 AM on 01/10/2009

MY PRAYERS GO OUT THE THIS YOUNG MAN'S FAMILY. THEY NEED TO TAKE "THE HAPPY SHOOTING GUN POLICEMEN" OFF THE STREETS.

[scottymac11]

02:45 AM on 01/10/2009

Sadly this is no where near a solitary incident. Google Tarika Wilson from Lima Ohio. You will find that last January she was killed by a swat policeman named Joseph Chavalia. The police raided her home searching for her boy friend. The police fired two shots on the first floor as Joe the executioner climbed steps to the second floor. In response he fired blindly into a closed bedroom. He killed 26 year old Tarika who was kneeling on the floor with her six children. She was holding her infant son who was also wounded. He lost fingers and will be in therapy for at least a decade. Tarika was black the officer was white. An all white jury acquitted Chavalia of the two misdemeanor charges the D.A. brought. He is still a policeman to this day.

[augusteighteenth]

04:36 AM on 01/10/2009

Shooting blindly isn't as bad as aiming at someones back while they lay on the ground handcuffed, and shooting them in their back when they aren't even resisting. The incident you cited is a horrible one..and every time things like this happens its horrible. We shouldn't be comparing life worth though.

[kevinabt]

11:47 PM on 01/09/2009

It is very simple really. Most of the violence and destruction is caused by undercover police. The police screwed up big time here and have a major political problem on their hands. Covering up for murder is serious and should result in mass firings for those involved, and possibly charges of accessories to murder (if you let a murderer hide out in your home you can be charged as an accomplice).
Obviously the people are trying to protest the injustice and get some action by taking to the streets. The police have to shut this action down. But to use their violent methods to do that they need an excuse... how about if the peaceful protest turned violent? That would provided the needed cover to fire the tear gas, make the mass arrests and clear the streets. We all know that the cops plant drugs and other evidence, lie to get warrants and convictions and have been caught instigating riots before (DNC Denver, RNC St Louis for example). There is no reason to believe that they are not the ones responsible for the violence which is now so politically useful for them.

[RachelMc]

10:45 PM on 01/09/2009

I really do not like cops and i know there are good cops but when those same good ones protect or fail to condemn such acts they too become part of the problem (all those cops that were standing around, have they said anything? even anonymously? ppl leak statements all the time). To me, the only difference between criminals and cops are the badges. Cops get off too many times for things like this but this time it should be different because this is actually caught on footage and no longer is there just the word of the cop but a clear video. I hope the civil lawsuit is won and justice will be served. send a clear message that these pigs are not above the law and should be held to even a higher standard since they are cops. Even if the jury is too stupid to convict him the judge should not let him walk away with anything less than a murder conviction and if he wont do his job either he should be disposed of as well.

[OverseasObserver]

10:29 PM on 01/09/2009

I read that some rioters are being arraigned. http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=9647884&nav=9ptCXg5F

And at the same time, a positively identified suspect involved in a shooting death has not even been interviewed yet, let alone taken into custody.

????!!!

[baptox]

12:38 AM on 01/10/2009

I haven't heard about the arraignment of the rioters. The BART officer resigned from BART and has not given any statement, probably on the advice of his attorney. He and his family have had death threats, have had to go into hiding and are being moved frequently.

We have a Fifth amendment right to not self-incriminate ourselves in this country. That is probably the reason he is not speaking out on this. According to those who know him, he is devastated by what happened.

[OverseasObserver]

01:07 AM on 01/10/2009

Regardless of intent or motive, an individual was shot dead. There is a suspect. Why has the suspect not been arrested? He can choose not to incriminate himself even while in custody, and plead whatever he wants during his arraignment. The judge can then choose to set bail or not, keep him and his family in protective custody, or not. But has a criminal case even been filed yet?

Follow the link I provided, rioters have been charged and arraigned, quite swiftly, as they should.

Are shooting death cases always as slow and cautious as this, especially with a primary suspect positively identified? The incident happened on January 1!

[Rogan]

07:21 AM on 01/10/2009

I saw that video. That cop deserves a little more payback than feeling "devastated by what happened."

[Nikola Tesla]

06:50 PM on 01/09/2009

Way to screw th pooch, Oaktown.

[sf girl]

06:11 PM on 01/09/2009

Soooooo if the guy was laying face down on the platform when he was shot, why would the officer need to shoot the victim with a taser either? No excuse.

[TheHandyman]

05:49 PM on 01/09/2009

Two things stood out that realy bother me, but they aren't the only things. First is, why is it that the Police can't tell the difference between their taser and their gun under stress or otherwise. Something is seriously wrong if this is in fact the case. Secondly, does anyone edit or spell check these stories. I run into story after story that have sentences that make no sense! Such as this: "while others think the officer had mistakenly his handgun for a stun gun." Yes, I know what it should have said but why break the continuity. If no one is editing for spelling or anything else then these stories begin to loose credibility and journalistic integrity!

[Archie1955]

07:17 PM on 01/09/2009

Did you mean "lose" credibility?

[AnalyzeIT]

03:08 AM on 01/10/2009

I see your point Archie as well as The HandyMan - both are good.

However, Mehserle not being able to tell the difference between a 'taser' and a 'handgun' is pretty scary stuff and concerns me more so than anything else 'TheHandyMan' stated.

[RTIII]

10:57 AM on 01/10/2009

I guess you prove the point that; "Every writer needs an editor."
.

[bujeeboo]

03:06 PM on 01/09/2009

Finally, FluffPo posts something about this story!

[any67ways]

12:07 PM on 01/09/2009

good article in counterpunch about the citizen dissent

http://www.counterpunch.org/maher01092009.html

[bujeeboo]

03:24 PM on 01/09/2009

That was excellent! Thank you!

[biglith]

11:29 AM on 01/09/2009

A Grand Jury will be convened and rule that it was justifiable and no charges will be brought. Bank on it.

[Thundrdrum]

11:24 AM on 01/09/2009

What this cop did was inexuseable. Anybody watching any of the videos is a witness to murder. The cop has yet to be questioned about his involvement, and then there's the problem that the DA hasn't come up with any charges against him. He'd be doing us all a favor if he just used the same gun on himself.

[Jtt]

12:57 PM on 01/09/2009

And if it was a accident?

What does that make you.

[Highwind]

01:33 PM on 01/09/2009

A cop is not an ordinary citizen. After you take the oath, you should be held to a higher standard. He has to pay for what he did. He murdered someone. Period.

[Smurfaveli]

02:04 PM on 01/09/2009

Unholstering your weapon on a handcuffed suspect who is laying face down on the concrete and then pumping a bullet into his back, killing him....sounds like murder.

[Cakey4814]

11:23 AM on 01/09/2009

I understand the anger..really I do but vandalizing and destroying innocent business owners property is not the answer. I'm all for the protesting as it seems that's the only reason why the Oakland PD is now investigating but to destroy neighborhoods and people's livelihood who are just as innocent as this young man is wrong. My prayers to this young man's family and may justice prevail for this family soon.

[jsomerville5]

04:12 PM on 01/09/2009

I don't get the vandalization of stores. Oakland had such promise in the 80s,but the crime rate today is worse than ever. Why can't they get a kick-ass mayor in there to do something before it's too late ?