Oscar Grant shooting: officer found guilty of involuntary manslaughter
• Johannes Mehserle shot black 22-year-old in 2009
• Grant's family express disappointment with verdict
A white police officer who shot dead a black man in a controversial case in Oakland, California, has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
The family of Oscar Grant, the victim, expressed their disappointment with the outcome. They had been hoping for a murder verdict.
Grant, 22, was shot in the back by policeman Johannes Mehserle, 28, while lying on the platform in a railway station on 1 January 2009. Mehserle claimed he had thought he had his Taser in his hand rather than his gun.
The shooting, which was shown on YouTube, led to a riot in Oakland, and there were fears of further trouble if Mehserle had been found not guilty. Police were yesterday deployed in riot gear in case of any outbreaks of violence.
The case has become a cause celebre in the US, with its echoes of the treatment of Rodney King, a black man whose severe beating by police in LA in 1991 was captured on video. The subsequent acquittals of four LAPD officers sparked the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
The verdict means the jury thought Mehserle had been criminally negligent but had not intended to kill Grant.
Mehserle, who is to be sentenced next month, could face anything from five to 14 years in jail.
John Burris, a lawyer representing the family, described it as a "compromise verdict".
"The system is rarely fair when a police officer shoots an African-American male," Burris said. "No true justice has been given."
The trial was held in Los Angeles because of the tension in the Oakland and neighboring San Francisco over the shooting.
What is your opinion of this case and verdict? Personally, I am not surprised, but was hoping that at least for once a black man shot would receive some justice. I think his family has been through a lot and deserved some justice. This is another example of how America feels that people of color, Blacks especially are a disposable commodity like we were during Slavery. What will it take for us to wake and accept that? During the 50s and 60s we were united against the injustices, not we only riot when we don't get our way. Shouldn't we be in a constant revolt against the system that continues to serve&protect others, while using us as their guinea pigs?? I wish the Black Panther Movement was around, there would be sit-ins, fasting, protests, parts of the government being affected by their revolt. Where is that energy and revolution today? We all are quick to jump up and loot/riot, but afterward or before is what really matters..after the looting&rioting what then?? Will we go about our business of working dead end jobs barely making it while the white man earns more and owns more? Worry from day to day about our lives while doing what everyone else does, just living and trying to survive? How much longer will we tolerate out Black Men to be sacrificed? It's one thing to be a casualty of the war of injustice and equal rights, but being a casualty/statistic is what they like to refer to it as just for trying to survive everyday in this so called land of the free and the home of the brave where everyone comes for that American dream..What dream are you coming for? The dream to have to look over your shoulders constantly while doing the right thing? Or the dream that was promised; freedom and opportunities regardless of creed, race or sex? What will it take for us to take a stand and speak out?? Do these fools need to start lynching or hunting us down and burning us again? Maybe they should run us out of America and send us back on those slave ships before we holla??!! Or will we choose to have the revolution televised like our predecessors? This shit got me pissed and I'm ready to join the revolution..who else is??
Roni
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