Here in Oakland, we are anxiously awaiting the verdict in the trial of former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle’s murder of the unarmed Oscar Grant. The murder, which was captured on video by bystanders and seen on Youtube by millions of people, sparked massive protests and militant actions around Oakland last year — and has the potential to generate further unrest depending on the jury’s decision.
The verdict could come down as early as today, and there’s a lot of questions in the air about what’s going to happen. I can’t say for sure what my own reaction will be. Still, I decided I need to make a list of personal principles that I’d hold myself to, no matter what the decision is. So let me say that when the verdict comes…
I will be in the streets, either in celebration or outrage. Possibly both.
I will be at 14th and Broadway at 6:00pm the day of the verdict, helping create a safe space for people to speak out freely and without censorship. This is a rally, a grassroots gathering, and a place to decide what to do next.
I will remember that this is the first time in California history that a police officer was charged with murder in the death of a citizen — and that it was our protests and actions that made the Alameda County DA bring those charges.
I will remember how after Mehserle shot Oscar, he never offered him first aid or tried to apologize — either then, or later to his family. That doesn’t seem like the actions of someone who committed “an accident.”
I will question how a jury that included NO BLACK PEOPLE is somehow a “jury of your peers.”
I will wonder how Mehserle’s defense paid $50,000 to a “video expert” to explain to the jury members why they should not believe their own eyes.
I will remind people how fellow BART officer (later fired for this incident) Tony Pirone called Oscar a “bitch-ass nigger” multiple times before Mehserle shot him.
I will tell people what the jury wasn’t allowed to hear — how three weeks before he shot Oscar, Mehserle viciously beat up another young black man, Kenneth Carruthers, and sent him to the hospital.
I will demand that the federal government intervenes (where you at, Eric Holder?) in the case of an unjust verdict.
I will not be more concerned with property damage than the murder of innocent people. As a woman said at the Town Hall on Saturday, “Windows are replaceable, our babies aren’t.”
I will walk with the words of One Fam organizer Tony Coleman: “The cops are the outside agitators to our community, not the protesters.”
I will love Oakland, and make sure my actions reflect that love.
I will encourage my young people to be safe — but more than that, to be brave. To be smart. And to be together.
I will be prepared with a camera, water, legal phone numbers, and the things I need to be safe in the streets. The cops are getting ready, so should we.
I will participate in actions that are both militant and nonviolent. I don’t believe in testosterone activism (“You think you hard? Oh yeah, watch this…”), but neither do I believe in standing around aimlessly. I believe in strategic, serious action that moves us closer to actual victory.
I will understand that this is part of a larger struggle. White supremacy and police violence didn’t start with this case, nor will they end here, even with a guilty verdict.
I will stand with Oscar’s mother, Wanda Johnson, and uncle, Cephus Johnson, who have stood strong and brought a community together over the past 18 months.
And above all, I will remember the man in whose name we are continuing the cry for justice.
Wonderful declaration, Josh! Let’s hope, that justice will prevail!
Is it possible for progressives to entertain the notion that justice indeed prevails even if the officer is acquitted of homicide? I watched the tape and you can dismiss me as hopelessly co-opted or naive, but what I saw was a man making a terrible mistake under stressful circumstances. I have witnessed acts of police brutality and I know police officers can abuse the public trust, but I found the officer’s explanation at least plausible. There was no way deadly force was required by the situation he was in and the methodical way he stepped up and reached for his weapon betrayed no aberrant emotion. He and the other officers seemed as shocked as everyone else when the shot rang out from what he, according to his testimony, thought was his Taser. You assume an almost diabolically malicious intent that I just don’t see the evidence supporting. Can you entertain the idea that the rhetoric you and other progressives are using around this trial is unnecessarily inflaming civic passions in a disservice to true justice in this case? The fact that you may not like the outcome does not negate the possibility of a just outcome emerging from this trial.
@kevin
Maybe no one should have the tools to “accidentaly” (as you propose) kill someone else. Considering that someone (a young person) was killed, what is a just way of dealing with that death? What usually happens to people who “accidentally” kill other people? How many people need to be “accidentally” killed by police officers before people are “allowed” to feel their passions inflamed? I could go on and on and on and on… but I won’t, because your comments show that your heart and soul are as cold as your politics.
I think the idea Kevin was trying to present is that he should not be found guilty of murder. To be found guilty of murder there has to be proof that the cop had intent to take Grant’s life. That proof has to convincing beyond all reasonable doubt. I’m not sure what Mehserle meant to do in that situation but I can’t be convinced he was intending to take Grant’s life. Those that accidentally kill people should and usually are, charged with voluntary or involuntary manslaughter. In this case, Mehserle should be charged with involuntary manslaughter and I believe that is what he will eventually be charged with. It is tragic, there is no doubt about that. I just pray the citizens of Oakland listen to the pleas of the victim’s family and stay peaceful. By all means, protest if you feel an injustice has been served, but do it peacefully.
Niko, I think you go too far. It is a bit much to draw such broad conclusions about anybody based on, what, 200 words? My heart is big enough to feel sorrow for the family of this young man who died so needlessly and to feel some empathy for the predicament of this officer, and gratitude that I have the kind of job that never places me in such circumstances that a split second mistake could cost someone their life.