The Cops shot another Brother Options

[SuckDickNSaveLiv...]

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11369592?sou...ACE0DA4EF2.html

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New video shows BART officer shooting Hayward man in the back
By Sean Maher
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 01/04/2009 10:10:58 PM PST

OAKLAND — A BART police officer struggling to handcuff a 22-year-old man, stood up over the facedown Hayward resident and fired a single shot into his back while a handful of officers watched, a video taken by a train passenger apparently shows.

The attorney for the family of Oscar Grant III, fatally shot by an unidentified BART officer early New Year's Day, said Sunday he plans to file a $25 million lawsuit against the department and asked prosecutors to consider filing murder charges against the officer.

The shooting occurred shortly before 2 a.m. Thursday after five officers responded to the Fruitvale station to reports of a fight on a train, officials said, though they have not confirmed whether Grant
was involved in the fight.

The new video, obtained by television station KTVU, shows two officers restraining a struggling suspect. While the man is lying face down on the ground, one officer appears to be seen pulling out a gun and firing a single shot into his back.

Civil rights attorney John Burris, known for his work in several high-profile cases involving police abuse and corruption, said at a Sunday news conference that the shooting was "the most unconscionable shooting" he has ever seen. He said that the Alameda County district attorney should consider filing charges of second degree murder or manslaughter against the officer.

"I've drafted a notice of claim against BART for $25 million I plan to submit officially,"
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Burris said, adding that the officer had violated Grant's civil rights and caused his wrongful death.

The Police Department is in the early stages of a thorough investigation, BART police Chief Gary Gee said Sunday at a news conference. He declined to discuss many details, as doing so "before all the facts are in could compromise individual recollections and do disservice to the truth and the answers we're all seeking."

BART police are cooperating fully with a parallel investigation by the Alameda County district attorney's office, Gee said.

Gee declined to identify the officer but said he is a two-year BART police veteran. The officer was given drug and alcohol tests before being sent home on administrative leave Thursday, Gee said.

The last BART officer-involved shooting occurred in May 2001, Gee said.

Mario Pangelina Jr., whose sister had a 4-year-old daughter with Grant, said he was on the same train as Grant that night, but on a different car. He said he saw Grant's interactions with police immediately before the shooting.

"First, an officer grabbed Oscar by the neck and pushed him against the wall," Pangelina said. "Oscar didn't fight him, but he didn't go down either. He was like, 'What did I do?' Then another officer came up with his Taser and held it right in his face. Oscar said, 'Please don't shoot me, please don't Taser me, I have a daughter,' over and over again, real fast, and he sat down."

Grant was the only man in a small group sitting against the wall who was not handcuffed, Burris said, so officers grabbed him away from the wall and pressed him belly-down onto the ground.

"One officer was kneeling over his neck and head, and another standing over him," Burris said. "He was not kicking, and one officer was pulling on his arm. The standing officer pulled out his weapon and, within moments, fired the gun into Mr. Grant's back."

Burris said the bullet went through Grant's lower back and ricocheted off the ground up into his lungs, killing him.

BART's 206 sworn officers attend the same academies and training programs as city police and sheriff's deputies. According to BART's Web site, its requirements go beyond state guidelines, as every officer applicant must have completed at least a year of college.

Police have one video of the incident in evidence, different from the video that local media have released, and the quality of that video makes it hard to reach a sure conclusion, Gee said.

"It's not clear to me why the officer felt he needed to shoot. I don't know, and from my perspective it doesn't matter," Burris said.

Two authorities on police use of deadly force, both former law enforcement officers, said the newly discovered tape leaves unanswered questions.

"Strictly on the basis of this video, it is impossible to determine whether the shooting was justified because the officer who fired the shot might have seen some imminent threat to his or others' lives that the camera does not detect at that distance, angle and resolution," said Michael Scott, a University of Wisconsin law professor, former police chief in Florida and co-author of "Deadly Force: What We Know."

Scott said he watched the video several times. If there was a threat, he wrote in an e-mail to the Times, it "would most likely have to be a firearm or other weapon in the possession of Mr. Grant. However, if it turns out that Mr. Grant had no such weapon, it is awfully difficult to imagine what might have justified the use of deadly force."

Curtis J. Cope agreed that the tape doesn't show enough to draw clear conclusions.

"There are so many things we don't know," said Cope, a former 30-year law enforcement officer who has conducted police training and provides expert testimony in police procedure cases. "We certainly don't know the reason why they decided to put him prone on the ground. We don't know what reactions were taking place, what orders were being given and whether or not he is then complying or not complying. ... You need to look at every possible angle of it. Those angles all take time."

Grant was a butcher at popular Oakland grocery store Farmer Joe's and a loving father, family members said Sunday.

"He was so happy with his daughter," said Lita Gomez, sister to the mother of Grant's child. "You could see he was just so happy when he looked at her. Now, he's not going to be there for kindergarten. He's not going to be there for her prom. He's not going to be there for her wedding. She was robbed of that."

Family members erected a memorial for Grant outside the Fruitvale BART station Saturday night, where they said they plan to continue honoring his memory for 10 days.

A public funeral service is planned for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Palma Ceia Baptist Church, 28605 Ruus Road in Hayward, family members said.

Gee asked anyone with information on the shooting to call BART investigators at 877-679-7000, ext. 7040, or the Alameda County district attorney's office at 510-272-6222.

Staff writer John Simerman contributed to this report.
# Deadly force on BART Officer David Betancourt, a 22-year law enforcement veteran, shot a naked Bruce Seward outside the Hayward BART station before dawn on Memorial Day in 2001. Seward, 42, was asleep on a bench and appeared unconscious. After calling for an ambulance, Betancourt approached when Seward woke up, grabbed the officer's nightstick and swung, smacking the patrol car, police said. Betancourt used pepper spray on Seward, but it had no effect, police said. Family members and mental health advocates decried the shooting, but a BART review cleared Betancourt of wrongdoing.
# BART police Officer Fred Crabtree was cleared of wrongdoing after he shot an unarmed 19-year-old man, Jerrold Hall, from behind at the Hayward station in 1992. Crabtree died in 1996, apparently hanging himself. Hall's father, Cornelius Hall, sued the agency and won what he calls a small settlement.

Sad thing is every one of these cops will more than likely get off with minimal punishment at most.

Next time I get pulled over, best believe I'm running for my life.

[fameONE]

This shit is getting out of hand. It's been happening for decades and in spite of the backlash that police departments receive from the Black Community, as a whole, these "missteps" continue to take place.

[Tung]

Damn f*ck these Oakland officers. They killed one of my Hayward people where I'm from.

[brooklyneast05]

ridiculous

[hypnotique]

Usually i would bust out the KC topik meme i made but this seriously pissed me off.Im sick of the 5-0 getting away with murder and then either never get proper punishment for it or if they do it comes 20 years or so later when they cant be punished for all the crimes commited because the statute of limitations ran out.

example:
http://www.totalinjury.com/article-john-bu...lity-update.asp

[DoubleJ]

Wow...what a damn shame!

[brooklyneast05]

i just watched the video.


i don't even know. it's nothing but murder, there's no reason shooting him in the back was necessary. how stupid of a cop do you have to be to do that, much less in front of tons of people? f*cking nutcase cops.

[none345678]

That is so horrible.

[Reidar]

As of Wednesday, January 7, 2008, Mehserle has officially tendered his resignation, according to KCBS 740AM and KPIX TV 5, San Francisco. After finally being commanded to appear before BART officials for administrative questioning on the 7th of January, Mehserle has elected to resign his position by tendering a letter of resignation through his attorney and a union representative. KCBS and Investigative Journalist Phil Matier is also reporting that in the hours following the shooting, Mehserle invoked the Peace Officers Bill of Rights, and refused to answer questions about his role in the shooting. Now, as a civilian, Mehserle has also invoked his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and is refusing to answer any questions that investigators might have about the shooting.

What a coward.

I live near Oakland. I should find him, Punisher-style.

[mipadi]

There are riots in Oakland over it -- although the riots are more about stealing stuff than protesting anything.

[Harp]

god damn.

[sixfive]

god damn.

honkey

[Harp]

no.

[ReggieM]

Cops are in the bigggest gang in the world.

[AyeVickaye]

At the protest they smashed hella car windows and started fires in dumpsters

[mipadi]

A new video can be seen here.

It actually looks like the copy is a f*cking dumbass. See the surprised look on his face after the shooting? Looks like he somehow disengaged the safety (or never had it on in the first place) and fired by accident. You'd think basic firearms training would be a requirement for a cop.

[coconutter]

That man didn't seem to be doing anything wrong at all. Did he even DO anything wrong to be surrounded by cops like that? They didn't have any evidence he was in a fight, or a shooting

[ReggieM]

he did do something wrong...hes black.

[SuckDickNSaveLiv...]

A new video can be seen here.

It actually looks like the copy is a f*cking dumbass. See the surprised look on his face after the shooting? Looks like he somehow disengaged the safety (or never had it on in the first place) and fired by accident. You'd think basic firearms training would be a requirement for a cop.

Even if it was an accident, the officer shouldn't have drawn his gun because the victim was already restrained. For that very reason, I find it hard to believe it was an accident.

Lets just wait and see what our so called justice system does to this cop.

[heyo-captain-jac...]

A new video can be seen here.

It actually looks like the copy is a f*cking dumbass. See the surprised look on his face after the shooting? Looks like he somehow disengaged the safety (or never had it on in the first place) and fired by accident. You'd think basic firearms training would be a requirement for a cop.

It looks like he pulled out a Glock. Glocks don't have a safety feature.

[ReggieM]

glocked!

[emberfly]

He did do something wrong.

Police “escorted defendant to the middle of the street and told him to cross to the sidewalk. Defendant for the fourth time refused the verbal commands and that’s why he was arrested.” Read arrest report.

That is just absurdly f*cked up. There was absolutely no reason to even pull out a gun. And those other cops just stood there confused and let him do it. I MEAN WTF?! THEY'RE JUST AS GUILTY AS HE IS!

[mipadi]

He did do something wrong.

Uh...check the arrest report again. That's the arrest report for Carlos Miller, not Oscar Grant.

[none345678]

He did do something wrong.
That is just absurdly f*cked up. There was absolutely no reason to even pull out a gun. And those other cops just stood there confused and let him do it. I MEAN WTF?! THEY'RE JUST AS GUILTY AS HE IS!

He is WAY less guilty than the cops are...

[emberfly]

^ i was saying the other cops are just as guilty as the cop that shot the guy.


Oops. I guess I misread the arrest report? I have no idea why the cops would shoot the guy they did and not Carlos.. apparently Carlos was trying to take pictures of the cops and they violated Carlos's 1st ammendment rights and didn't let him. -- shouldn't they have been more angry and Carlos? Why didn't they shoot Carlos and not whoever they did shoot?