- On New Year's Eve, Oscar Grant was shot execution-style
by a transit police officer in Oakland, California. He was shot in the
back while face-down on a subway platform, unarmed and posing no threat.[1,2]
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- Twelve days later--despite several videos showing what
happened--the officer who killed Grant hasn't been arrested, charged, or
even questioned. He quit the force and has refused to speak. The District
Attorney has done nothing.
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- It's time to demand that California Attorney General
Jerry Brown take over the case and arrest Grant's killer, and to ask that
the US Department of Justice launch an independent investigation into the
conduct of the local authorities. Please join us and ask your friends and
family to do the same:
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- http://www.colorofchange.org/oscar/?id=1465-126258
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- Oscar Grant is the third man murdered by BART (Bay Area
Rapid Transit) police in the past 17 years. All three victims were Black
and none posed a serious threat. In each case, BART and county authorities
have failed to hold the officers accountable.[3]
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- In the previous cases, BART's internal investigations
concluded that the officers felt threatened by the victims and were justified
in pulling the trigger. It's unbelievable given the circumstances of the
killings:
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- - In 1992, 19-year-old Jerrold Hall was shot in the back
by a BART officer as he tried to leave the parking lot of a station. The
officer was responding to reports of an armed robbery and said he suspected
that Hall and a friend were involved. The officer tried to detain the two,
Hall ran and then the officer shot him in the back and killed him. Hall
was unarmed, but the officer said he thought Hall was on his way to get
a gun and return for a showdown.[4]
-
- - In 2001, a mentally ill man named Bruce Seward was
the next victim of the rogue force. Seward, 42, was naked and had been
sleeping on a bench outside the BART station when an officer approached
him. Seward did grab the officer's nightstick at one point, but there were
several options for subduing him. Instead, the officer shot and killed
him.[5]
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- In addition to BART's internal investigation, Alameda
County's District Attorney is also investigating Oscar Grant's murder--but
the office's record on investigating police killings is horrible too. In
both cases just described, the District Attorney bought BART's argument
that the officers felt threatened. As a result, the cops were cleared of
any wrongdoing.
-
- In the case of Grant's murder, the DA has already let
12 days pass while doing essentially nothing--the officer who killed Grant
is able to travel and leave the state, and he's free to talk with other
officers and attempt to construct a story to justify his killing of Oscar
Grant.
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- The problem with Alameda County's DA goes beyond BART
police murders. In the past two years alone, there have been 11 fatal police
shootings in Oakland (not including that of Oscar Grant).[6] When asked,
the officials at the District Attorney's office could not remember a single
case in the last 20 years where an on-duty cop had been charged in a fatal
shooting in Alameda County.[7] It gives the clear appearance that the District
Attorney's office just doesn't have the will to prosecute police crimes.
-
- California's Attorney General needs to step in now and
arrest Oscar Grant's murderer. And the US Department of Justice should
investigate the failure of the authorities in Alameda County to act. It's
the first step towards justice. After that, we will push for systemic changes
to create public accountability for BART and other police departments.
Creating those structural changes will be a much longer fight, but Oscar
Grant's tragic death is a wake-up call that should give us a real chance
to help prevent this from happening again.
-
- Please join us in demanding justice, and then ask your
family and friends to do the same:
-
- http://www.colorofchange.org/oscar/?id=1465-126258
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- Thanks and Peace,
-
- -- James, Gabriel, Clarissa, William, Dani, and the rest
of the ColorOfChange.org team January 13th, 2008
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- References
-
- 1. "BART shooting captured on video," San Francisco
Chronicle, 1-06-09
- http://tinyurl.com/7jr4f8
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- 2. "$25 Million Lawsuit Announced In BART Shooting,"
KPIX, 1-04-09
- http://tinyurl.com/a87ya4
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- 3. "BART cop shooting: we've been here before,"
Daily Kos, 1-08-09
- http://tinyurl.com/86ts2v
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- 4. "Lethal force," San Francisco Bay Guardian,
12-12-92
- http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=7799
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- 5. "BART police condemned by slain man's family,"
San Francisco Chronicle, 7-18-01
- http://tinyurl.com/84ullk
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- 6. "Forum on officer-involved shootings held,"
KGO-TV, 12-11-08
- http://tinyurl.com/73mx26
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- 7. "Death threats against BART officer," San
Francisco Chronicle, 1-07-09
- http://tinyurl.com/9xk425
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