Another Police Shooting, Ho Hum, Wait What The Fuck

[Mr.Bookworm]

Article on CNN.

(CNN) -- A New Year's Day shooting in which a subway police officer fired a deadly shot into the back of an unarmed man has the San Francisco Bay Area demanding answers as authorities appeal for patience.


Oscar Grant, 22, was killed January 1 in a shooting at a subway station in California's Bay Area.

Bay Area Rapid Transit spokesman Linton Johnson told CNN affiliate KTVU-TV in Oakland, California, that the officer is presumed innocent and described him as devastated.

Attorney John Burris called the shooting "unconscionable" and said he filed a $25 million claim with BART on Tuesday, alleging wrongful death and violation of civil rights by use of excessive force. BART has 45 days to respond, Burris said.

"It's a clear shooting in the back that should not have taken place," Burris said, characterizing the incident as a case of "overagressiveness by police."

KTVU obtained at least two videos of the incident and its prelude. One video, which KTVU reported came from a train passenger who wished not to be identified, shows three young men against a wall in the crowded Fruitvale station.

Karina Vargas, who also provided a video to KTVU, said the men had been pulled from the train car in front of hers. Watch the events preceding the shooting »

Burris said Tuesday that the young men had been celebrating the new year at a popular waterfront tourist spot, The Embarcadero. They were heading home when police pulled them from the train car.

Some of the young men were handcuffed, but not 22-year-old Oscar Grant. The video from the anonymous passenger shows Grant seated on the floor with his back against the wall.

Grant holds up his hands, appearing to plead with police. Burris said Tuesday that Grant was asking police not to use a Taser.

"He said to them, 'Don't Tase me; I have a 4-year-old daughter,' " Burris said.

The interaction on the video is not audible.

Seconds later, police put Grant face-down on the ground. Grant appears to struggle.

One of the officers kneels on Grant as another officer stands up, tugs at his gun, unholsters it and fires a shot into Grant's back.

Burris said the bullet went through Grant's back and then ricocheted off the floor and through his lungs.

Grant, who has a 4-year-old daughter, died seven hours later, KTVU reported.

"I couldn't believe it. We was already following directions and everything, and they shot him," Fernando Anicete, one of the young men with Grant, told KTVU.

Burris has spoken to witnesses who claim that Grant was trying to resolve the situation.

"He had been telling people to calm down. 'Be cool. Just do what they tell you to do,' " the attorney said.

Johnson said the video provided to KTVU is inconclusive.

There are two surveillance cameras at the Fruitvale station, but a BART official told CNN that no video is being released at this time.

The community is outraged, according to local media. CNN affiliate KRON-TV in San Francisco reported that about 20 people rallied Monday outside BART's district headquarters in Oakland.

"A 22-year-old unarmed father was executed and assassinated, and BART expects us to swallow that the shooting may have been an accident," protest organizer Evan Shamar of Oakland shouted through a bullhorn, according to KRON.

BART says an investigation is ongoing and hasn't reached any conclusions.

The San Francisco Chronicle published an editorial Tuesday demanding answers as well.

"The BART police say that they are taking the investigation very seriously, but they had better find a way to reach out to the public effectively about what is going on and why. Otherwise, public outrage over this case is going to grow exponentially with every passing day," the newspaper said.

BART Police Chief Gary Gee released a statement this week expressing condolences for Grant's family and saying the authority is cooperating with the Alameda County district attorney's office, which is also investigating.

Gee added that BART will complete an "unbiased and thorough investigation" and asked the public to be patient.

"As frustrating as it is, I want to stress that we cannot and will not jeopardize this case by discussing details before the investigation is complete," Gee said.

Gee provided minor details of what preceded the shooting: BART police received a report that two groups of passengers were involved in an altercation as their train left the West Oakland Station about 2 a.m.

"BART police officers responded to the platform at Fruitvale and detained several persons," Gee said in his statement.

BART has not identified the officer, saying only that he has been on the force two years. He has undergone drug and alcohol testing and is on administrative leave, both of which are standard procedure, according to BART.

The officer has yet to make a public statement.

Johnson and Gee say they are refraining from releasing further details to avoid compromising the investigation. Johnson further told KTVU that BART wanted to avoid "polluting the potential pool of witnesses."

Burris, however, said there is no excuse for the use of force on a man being restrained by police. If BART does not grant his $25 million claim or if the authority fails to respond in 45 days, Burris intends to file a lawsuit, he said.

Burris, who served as Rodney King's co-counsel in King's civil case against the Los Angeles Police Department, said he also wants criminal charges filed against the officer.

He is pushing the Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff to press second-degree murder or involuntary manslaughter charges, he said.

Second-degree murder charges would be warranted if the officer shot Grant in the back when Grant posed no danger, Burris said. However, there are reports speculating that the officer accidentally shot Grant, in which case involuntary manslaughter charges would be appropriate, Burris said.

"No one wants to believe a cop would just kill somebody like that," he said. "My view is, this is criminal conduct, period."

Johnson told KTVU that authorities are trying to determine whether the officer who shot Grant accidentally drew his gun instead of his Taser.

He also said authorities still need to speak to all the officers but that the BART officers involved in the incident felt outnumbered and called the Oakland Police Department for backup. iReport.com: 'I'm not happy with the state of the police'

"We need to take our time and go through this thoroughly and try to figure everything out. There's more to this story than this one angle," Johnson told the station.

Asked whether there were developments Tuesday, Johnson said he had none.



Thomas Blalock, president of BART's board of directors, has urged the public not to jump to conclusions.

"Let's get the puzzle put together, and then we'll come to a conclusion," Blalock told KTVU.

Okay, assuming magic wasn't used on the cameras, a police officer executed a man at point-blank range, for no fucking reason. Jesus Christ on a popsicle stick.

[Odjn]

Originally Posted by Mr.Bookworm

Okay, assuming magic wasn't used on the cameras, a police officer executed a man at point-blank range, for no fucking reason. Jesus Christ on a popsicle stick.

The sick, funny part of it is his defense is he was reaching for his tazer to taze a man lying on the floor who said not to taze him and then shot him.

[phil_]

Damn, I should become a cop. It must be really nice knowing that you can shoot someone in the back for no reason and get away with it.

Wait, no, Discussion. Let me get out my pipe. So, the article says that there may have been an altercation on the train between the party of the man shot in the back for no reason and some other group. Perhaps, given the actions of the man who got shot in the back on the train, the officers had sufficient reason to take what they thought at the time was the best course of action and hold him down to shoot him in the back. Or maybe, as also posited by the article, the officer meant to pull his tazer and use that to torture the man for no reason as opposed to intentionally shooting him in the back.

Wait, no, I screwed up. Those aren't cogent arguments against police wrong-doing at all. Man, it's hard to play devil's advocate for something so obviously wrong.

[Bells]

Im sure there is a mistake in there somewhere. im positive of it... my brain cant process the idea of a Copy doing what is pretty much "war style" execution in a subway with a crowd neaby.... but still, man... this is trully messd'up.

I would really like to get more info on this... hell, i wouldnt be surprised is those videos ended up on Youtube...

[Solid Snake]

This is not going to end well.
I mean, regardless of what happens, it just can't end well.
Stories like these just make me feel awfully sad for the state of humanity, though.

[bluestarultor]

Originally Posted by Bellsouth Minion

Im sure there is a mistake in there somewhere. im positive of it... my brain cant process the idea of a Copy doing what is pretty much "war style" execution in a subway with a crowd neaby.... but still, man... this is trully messd'up.

I would really like to get more info on this... hell, i wouldnt be surprised is those videos ended up on Youtube...

Video is linked in the actual article. Right through where the guy gets shot. It's at point-blank range from a kneeling position. Guy never stood a chance. To me, it looked like the cop knew damn well he had a gun in his hand. He just plugged him.

I'm frankly disgusted.

[MasterOfMagic]

Well, you can't see clearly in that video, which is evidenced by how you thought you saw the shot, but it stops short of the actual kill. But, I mean, there were three officers on the guy. I don't know what to think about this. What the hell. What could he possibly have done to even deserve a taser shot?

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Something about this is totally strange. The cop thought he was getting out his taser but got out his gun instead and didn't realise? How can you not know the difference between your taser and your gun. They completely different. I think we don't ahve the full story.

[Nique]

Police Officers need regular psychiatric evaluations, and should be dismissed from duty at the first sign of paranoia, bad tempers, or anything that will endanger themselves and ESPECIALLY the people they "Protect" and "Serve". Judging by this situation, this doesn't happen in any degree. I don't believe the officer was trying to kill the guy, but I think he was not someone who should have been a Police Officer during that time.

But that's the best I can do. Stress doesn't give you a pass on murder. Especially NOT with the dismissive attitude cops take when stuff like this happens. Makes me sick.

EDIT: ARRGG! Just watched the Video. The guy was totally fine, he maybe gestured too much for the Police to be... very comfortable? Then they get pissy that he wasn't lying down and like 3 or 4 of them are pinning him down, which I imagine hurts... I mean, good God MY first reaction would be to struggle if it feels like someone is breaking my arms, right? And he get's shot! What the hell!

[Fifthfiend]

Originally Posted by MasterOfMagic

What could he possibly have done to even deserve a taser shot?

I think the correct question is, what was wrong with the officer that he would think this person was doing something to deserve to be shot by taser or otherwise?

This is just in the vein of making my general point about instances like these which is I think that first impulse a lot of people have to ask what the victim was doing wrong is part of why people in authority ultimately get away with these kinds of abuses.

For whatever it's worth my personal experience of BART policemen has been that they are bullies and power-trippers. On two occasions I've been on trains where they've stopped the train, walked into my car, pulled some random jerk off for 'causing a disturbance', and flatly ignored anything passengers on the car have had to say about whatever this disturbance is supposed to be. They've generally given every impression of having no interest whatsoever in being courteous, respectful or professional in executing their duties. Which I mean in my experience, at least one out of every two, say, highway cops you run into seems at least like a fairly decent human being.