via Flickr
We’ll never forget Oscar Grant, the young man who was killed by a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) police officer in 2009. His murder not only shocked and angered Black America, but the world. We never got any real justice, but now, a decade later, new information is reopening this wound in the WORST way.
California’s new transparency law, SB 1421, has brought a buried internal report by BART to light.
According to the report, Officer Anthony Pirone, who was on the scene, called Grant a “n*gger,” senselessly punched him, and LIED about everything to investigators.
That’s just the beginning.
Officer Mehserle - the cop who killed Oscar - KNEW what he was doing and investigators knew too.
Contradicting Mehserle’s defense that he meant to pull his taser, the report exposes that, 10 years ago, investigators said Officer Mehserle attempted to pull his GUN twice, based on enhanced video evidence. He even looked directly at his gun holster.
BART and the police force DEFENDED Johannes Mehserle, fully aware Oscar Grant’s killing was a racist execution. And for his involuntary manslaughter conviction, Mehserle didn’t even serve a full year in prison!
We’re glad this new information has come to light, but it’s still heartbreaking. Oscar should be with his family and the officers who did this should have been held responsible.
Unfortunately, the anti-Black criminal justice system is in their favor - not ours.