Across America, daily incidents of police brutality and state terrorism occur. One of many the cold-blooded killings occurred January 1, 2009 with the murder of Oscar Grant - unarmed, offering no resistance, thrust face-down on the ground, shot in the back, and killed. The event captured on video by at least four individual cameras.
His killer: Bay Area transit officer, Johannes Mehserle was tried for the killing. The jury was told to consider four possible verdicts: innocent, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, or involuntary manslaughter, jurors decided the latter.
Grant's family will appeal the verdict and is suing the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) for $25 million, his mother Wanda Johnson saying "My son was murdered (and) the law has not held the officer accountable." It rarely does for Black, Latino, or other minorities, no matter the injustice.
Civil rights lawyer, John Burris, representing Grant's family in the civil suit, said: "The system is rarely fair when a police officer shoots an African-American male." Full article: Police Brutality in America by Stephen Lendman
Also from the Newswire:Statement on Johannes Mehserle Verdict by LA Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant | | PHOTOS: Oscar Grant Verdict Reaction Photos by Robert Stuart Lowden | | Los Angeles Solidarity with Oakland: Justice for Oscar Grant After Verdict Rally by LA-IMC | | VIDEO: Rally in support of Oscar Grant day of verdict. by GamepitDee
Related state repression incident: Black Riders Liberation Party Being Raided
Justice for Oscar Grant: Systemic Police Brutality and State Terrorism