Transit Cop Murders Oscar Grant

I usually have really tough skin. I can take the worst of news and remain cool and calm about it. But sometimes you feel like your buttons are getting pushed just a bit too much. When people are viciously murdered by those that are meant to protect them, then my tough skin weakens.

I'd like to big up Julius for sending this out to a listserve so that people are aware of this hidious crime. I am much more upset than usual with the wrong being done to make this post funny or to even continue writing much more so instead I'll quote the e-mail the website sends.

It reads:

Dear friends,

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.

Twelve days later--despite several videos showing exactly 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.

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 local
authorities. Please join me:

http://www.colorofchange.org/oscar/?id=1406-653707

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.

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:

- 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.

- 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.

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.

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). 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. 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 me in demanding justice, and then ask your family and friends
to do the same:

http://www.colorofchange.org/oscar/?id=1406-653707

Thanks.

--

Please check out www.colorofchange.org to receive more information on this crime and to sign up for the petition.

WARNING: Please use your own discretion when viewing as the video shows Oscar Grant being killed.

two times.