Violent protests after Calif train killing verdict
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Violent protests erupted in Oakland with stores damaged and dozens arrested after a Los Angeles jury convicted a white former transit officer of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man.
Prosecutors had wanted Johannes Mehserle convicted of murdering Oscar Grant. So Thursday’s lesser verdict raised concerns of a repeat of the rioting that followed the shooting on New Year’s Day in 2009 on an Oakland train platform. The trial was moved to Los Angeles following the riots.
The verdict also prompted an announcement by Justice Department officials that they would look into whether the case warrants federal prosecution.
Police in riot gear Thursday had maintained a watchful eye over a crowd of protesters as emotions ran high with about 500 people marching in the street. Members of a crowd near City Hall moaned and cursed when they heard the verdict.
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Violent protests after Calif train killing verdict
Some folks say the *Race War* mentioned in the post just below this will never come. They may be right. These people aren’t warriors, they are ANIMALS, they would be more at home in the jungle than they are living among civilized people.
Most of these *rioters* were not rioting over a verdict. They are, as Bloviating Zeppelin is so fond of saying, rioting over the *FREE CHEESE*.
At least a dozen businesses were damaged, including a looted Foot Locker store and a ransacked jewelry store, police said. Protesters also smashed the windows of a bank, set fires in several trash bins, and detonated a small incendiary device near a police station that caused no damage.
These people are, plain and simple, HOOD RATS! They looted a Foot Locker store to STEAL the latest footwear. They looted a jewelry store to steal the BLING that they couldn’t afford to buy on their welfare check or food stamp payments. But, look at the bright side, now they are some well dressed and blinged out HOOD RATS.
There is NO WAY that these people were expressing outrage! They are ghetto trash, and that is all they are. This wasn’t about a verdict, it was about them, and an opportunity to express some FAUX outrage so they could steal from hard working business people.
During the trial, prosecutors said the 28-year-old Mehserle became angry at the 22-year-old Grant for resisting arrest. He was shot in the back while he lay face-down. Mehserle claims he mistakenly drew his gun instead of his Taser.
I have angered a couple of folks on PoliceLink, a Police news site I frequent, by expressing my opinion of former Officer Johannes Mehserle excuse that he meant to grab his Taser but grabbed his service pistol by mistake, and didn’t notice that it was a PISTOL, and NOT a Taser, and then fired the fatal round into the back of Oscar Grant. I just don’t buy that.
Grant was, as I understand it, handcuffed and face down on the rail platform when Mehserle fired his weapon.
Mehserle testified that he struggled with Grant and saw him digging in his pocket as officers responded to reports of a fight at a train station. Fearing Grant may have a weapon, Mehserle said he decided to shock Grant with his Taser but pulled his .40-caliber handgun instead.
I can’t understand how, even in the *heat of the moment*, an officer, even a rookie officer, could make such a horrific mistake. That was where I was taken to task by a retired officer that also posts on PoliceLink. He insisted that it’s an error that would be easy to make. I believe he is wrong.
I have talked to officers that are Taser certified and have been told that Taser training specifically states that you carry the Taser on your *OFF* side, meaning on the opposite side of your handgun, and also, a recommendation of carrying it in a *cross draw* position was mentioned as well.
Carried in either, or both manners, off side AND cross draw, there is no way to mistake your handgun for a Taser. It would be a deliberate and specific action to employee the Taser, one entirely different from the action required to draw your service weapon.
In other words, you shouldn’t be carrying a Taser on your *gun side* to begin with. Former officer Mehserle was either carrying his Taser in a manner not advised in any training criteria that I can find, or, he used the Taser as an excuse.
Either way, the case has been to trial and Mehserle has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Now the Department of Justice can weigh in. Since it was a WHITE cop and a BLACK victim, I’m pretty sure they can, and WILL make a case out of it!
If it were the other way around, well, recent actions BY the DOJ have shown that BLACKS can do NO wrong in the eyes OF the DOJ…
Well, well, well. Just another black race riot like all the other ones. Make another Detroit, or some call Detroilet out of their neighborhoods and city.
All of this crap and the New Black Panthers doings, makes one like me just go to my Local WalMart and buy me some more .40 caliber ammo.
August is always a hot month for the riots. Here’s hope that they do.
I remember Watts, Detroit, Chicago, and the Rodney King business. Those riots were never about the supposed issue/issues they were about ‘GETTING FREE STUFF’. (They’re owed this don’t ya know) Blacks have been getting away with this kind of thing for decades because the powers that be are afraid of charges of ‘RACISM’ being leveled at them. Never mind laws are being broken and people’s livelihoods put in jeopardy. IMO a few tanks and a spectre gunship or two would put this right.
As for the officer who commited the offense he should have done this to white person. Then he wouldn’t have even gone to trial. And no I don’t buy ‘THE TASER STORY’ either as a taser and a .40 cal feel nothing alike in your hand. It’s not like reaching for the .40 and finding a 9mm. It’s a whole different ballgame.
That’s EXACTLY how you train with a Taser — it is meant to be carried on your off side. Unless this guy just absolutely and literally froze — or this was THE FIRST critical incident in which he’d ever been involved — and with BART Police I doubt that severely — he couldn’t have HELPED but reach purposely for his handgun instead of a Taser. Unless he’s fluidly ambidextrous — which I seriously, seriously doubt, I’ve only come across ONE person like that in 35+ years in LE — he ended up holding what he purposely chose.
Now, what was going on in his mind when he MADE that decision, whether he felt actually threatened or not, I have no damned idea and won’t begin to speculate.
The jury returned the verdict they did because they couldn’t see hanging him for murder and yet they couldn’t see a complete acquittal either.
Further, you’ve seen, have you not, that AG Holder is going to “investigate” the case? Holder, you know, the guy who WON’T prosecute blacks but apparently has no problem with going out of his way to further investigate a case which has ALREADY been to a state court. And the SAME guy that’s suing AZ for their version of the federal immigration law?
This is sheer insanity.
And Oakland rioting? Who cares? It’s Oakland and it’s Mayor Ron Dellums in his white Nehru jacket.
BZ
I just hope no Oakland PD cops got or will get hurt over this.
Oakland is a festering pit. It’s common knowledge in this state that Oakland PD is CONSTANTLY hiring because of its turnover rate.
BZ
It wouldn’t matter if the police officer acted rightly or wrongly. It’s all about race with Eric Holder.
As a former police officer, I carried a taser as well. It is one of the best tools given to us. At my dept., you either carried your taser on the opposite (as a cross draw) or you could opt for a leg holster (if you were too skinny to fit any more crap on your belt), which mounted on the same side as your firearm but lower and closer to the knee.
Maybe, and I really mean maybe, you could mistake drawing one for the other. But only if you were a complete incompetent rookie, you did not train enough, or you are a moron. Not only is the taser located on a different part of your body, it feels different in weight, grip, and trigger, etc. It just plain does not feel like a firearm at all. There are just way too many steps and “mental” procedures that are different in drawing a taser versus a firearm.
His story is weak. His excuse means the same to me if he said he accidently pepper sprayed when he meant to go for his baton. It’s just plain that different to any experienced officer. Any officer with even the slightest amount of training and experience just plain does not confuse the two.
I knew a lot of gung-ho officers, (mostly rookies/young guys) that were almost always too eager to draw their firearm at the slightest situation. If I had to give an opinion, I would bet he drew his gun in the heat of the moment and damn well meant to draw it. What he didn’t realize was that when the situation gets a little tense, that trigger gets mighty sensitive. He probably didn’t realize how easy that trigger pulled until it was too late. This is why everyone who has a firearm is taught not to put our fingers on the trigger until we are ready to conduct business. Of course, everyone here already knows that. Unfortunately, this officer forgot his training, and a whole lot more.
That being said, I wasn’t there and it wasn’t me in that situation. So what the hell do I know.
This can be a “Rodney King” times 10. Rioting in Oakland actually may improve the downtown and ghetto area. Kinda like Watts was in 1965 when I was there.
Let them burn, loot, whatever.
Anyone who tries to cross over the assigned perimeter control line is automatically shot on site. Period.
Let them burn, loot, fuck, howl, scream, but all humans stay controlled inside this perimeter zone, including any peaceful residents who may just be living there. Throw a “net” over this area; catch them all.
No one is allowed outside without an extensive background check. NO ONE.
If done this way, they will have used the perfect opportunity to identify all the felons and troublemakers.
But as said earlier, negro ron dellums is the mayor of this black shithole, so I expect absolutely nothing will be done.
I spent a large percentage of my years in law enforcement in the State of California.
I have seen the worst and the best this State has had to offer. But today, all has changed.
My best to Bloviating Zeppelin who still has some years left before he stands up, shuffles to the door, and jumps clear into retirement. Lets hope that Cal Pers who holds all the pension money is still solvent,,,,for him and for my wife of 45 years, whose pension is also in there.!!
Yep…lame excuse if I have ever heard one. He would have been better off claiming temporary insanity…of PTSD.
As far as being fluidly ambidextrous..I know one person that has this ability. He is now serving in Iraq as a Medic. He can work on you and shoot at the same time. Well he can shoot from either side…both rifle and pistol….and being ambidextrous he does a great job at treating the injured. I’m glad they now allow or maybe even require Medics to carry a weapon. God knows they need to be able to shoot back when fired upon. His unit really likes him. He actually saved a guy in his unit while they were training. Sorry to get off the subject…just wanted to emntion there are good guys out there…and not all bad like this officer’s actions.
I think medical people in the military are now required to carry a sidearm in a combat zone. I”ve got two daughter’s in the USAF one an officer and a nurse and the other a med-tech and they both had training on the 16, 9mm, and Mp-5. Went to a special camp for combat training both men and women.
When I was in it wasn’t like that, but medics carried weapons anyway in a combat zone and it was overlooked.
Hell today a Red-Cross on your uniform just makes you a better target. Fucking rag-heads don’t care about stuff like that.