“We could not even get six hours of deliberation. My son was murdered. He was murdered. He was murdered. My son was murdered. And the law has not held the officer accountable the way that he should have been held accountable,” Wanda Johnson, mother of Oscar Grant
On July 8th, after less than six hours of deliberation, a jury in Los Angeles found former Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) cop Johannes Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the murder of 22 year old African Oscar Grant. The charge of involuntary manslaughter with a weapons enhancement is expected to result in a maximum sentence of eight to ten years.
Oscar Grant was killed by Mehserle, who is white, at point blank range during the early morning hours of January 1, 2009, after having been made to lie on his stomach in submission on the Fruitvale BART station platform in Oakland, CA. The murder of African people by police is an all too common occurrence in the U.S. government’s undeclared war on the African community, which faced the colonial policy of police containment on a daily basis. The murder of Oscar Grant was only significant in that it was caught on video by BART passengers for the world to see.
The historic resistance of the African community of Oakland forced the arrest of Mehserle, the first time in history that a police officer has been put on trial for murder in the state of California. Immediately, the state worked overtime to ensure that Mehserle, if convicted, would face minimal jail time.
The state succeeded first in moving the trial three hundred miles away from Oakland to the city of Los Angeles to lessen the impact of the resistance of the African community on the trial. Next, the defense was able to dismiss all potential African jurors due to either their affinity with the case of Oscar Grant or their experience with being targeted by the police or “racial profiling.”
In the end, the jury who made the decision to give Mehserle a mere slap on the wrist for the crime of murder was made up of seven whites and five Latinos. Four of the jurors were reported to have police officers among their friends and family.
The lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter should be of no surprise in a system that treats the murder of African people by the police as a commonplace and necessary occurrence in the containment of our criminalized and colonially occupied community.
To be expected, the jurors sympathized with Mehserle’s crocodile tears as he performed the rehearsed narrative on the stand that he had mistaken his gun for his taser when he shot and killed Oscar Grant. Even though the defense showed Mehserle’s prior handing of a taser minutes before the killing and also showed the difficulty in firing a weapon “by accident,” the jurors bought the former white cop’s lies and please for mercy.
In preparation for the potential rebellion, the state set up "Operation Verdict" in Oaklnad, mobilizing police agencies from throughout the area and putting the National Guard on alert. The city of Oakland and police department held a press conference, collaborating with local non profits to put forward the reactionary message of "violence is not justice," further criminalizing the African community by condemning the potential African resistance and sanctioning the state's colonial violence and containment that maintains the relationship between the white ruling class and neo colonial government and oppressed African and Mexican working class.
In spite of neo-colonial Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums' expressions of pride in how crowd gathered peacefully initially following the verdict, te people had no right to freedom of speech and assembly since the rally was cordoned off within two blocks of the downtown area by thousands of police in riot gear and row police cars and helicopters overhead to ensure the farcical "freedom of speech" was contained and that no unsanctioned expressions of outrage could occur.
The fact is that the African community throughout Oakland was put on lockdown with twelve passenger vans of Oakland police patrolling the MacArthur corridor in front of the Uhuru House to quell any potential rebellion.
The media looked hard for a story that would justify the military style presence of the police; however, the fact is that when darkness fell in downtown Oakland a handful of people smashed windows, set fires and looted a Foot Locker store. The police had corralled hundreds of people and later declared "an unlawful assembly," putting on gas masks and taking out clubs to ensure that the police state was in full effect.
While the struggle for justice for Oscar Grant continues, the Uhuru Movement calls for the following demands:
1. Justice and reparations to the family of Oscar Grant and all victims of police violence from BART and the city of Oakland.
2. End the city of Oakland’s public policy of police containment of the African community carried out through police chief Anthony Batt's war on ‘gangs, guns and drugs’ and his recently imposed gang injunction.
3. Economic development for the African and Mexican communities.
We call on the community to:
• Support the right of the African community to resist the state violence.
• Join the Uhuru Movement.
http://www.uhurunews.com/
On July 8th, after less than six hours of deliberation, a jury in Los Angeles found former Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) cop Johannes Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the murder of 22 year old African Oscar Grant. The charge of involuntary manslaughter with a weapons enhancement is expected to result in a maximum sentence of eight to ten years.
Oscar Grant was killed by Mehserle, who is white, at point blank range during the early morning hours of January 1, 2009, after having been made to lie on his stomach in submission on the Fruitvale BART station platform in Oakland, CA. The murder of African people by police is an all too common occurrence in the U.S. government’s undeclared war on the African community, which faced the colonial policy of police containment on a daily basis. The murder of Oscar Grant was only significant in that it was caught on video by BART passengers for the world to see.
The historic resistance of the African community of Oakland forced the arrest of Mehserle, the first time in history that a police officer has been put on trial for murder in the state of California. Immediately, the state worked overtime to ensure that Mehserle, if convicted, would face minimal jail time.
The state succeeded first in moving the trial three hundred miles away from Oakland to the city of Los Angeles to lessen the impact of the resistance of the African community on the trial. Next, the defense was able to dismiss all potential African jurors due to either their affinity with the case of Oscar Grant or their experience with being targeted by the police or “racial profiling.”
In the end, the jury who made the decision to give Mehserle a mere slap on the wrist for the crime of murder was made up of seven whites and five Latinos. Four of the jurors were reported to have police officers among their friends and family.
The lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter should be of no surprise in a system that treats the murder of African people by the police as a commonplace and necessary occurrence in the containment of our criminalized and colonially occupied community.
To be expected, the jurors sympathized with Mehserle’s crocodile tears as he performed the rehearsed narrative on the stand that he had mistaken his gun for his taser when he shot and killed Oscar Grant. Even though the defense showed Mehserle’s prior handing of a taser minutes before the killing and also showed the difficulty in firing a weapon “by accident,” the jurors bought the former white cop’s lies and please for mercy.
In preparation for the potential rebellion, the state set up "Operation Verdict" in Oaklnad, mobilizing police agencies from throughout the area and putting the National Guard on alert. The city of Oakland and police department held a press conference, collaborating with local non profits to put forward the reactionary message of "violence is not justice," further criminalizing the African community by condemning the potential African resistance and sanctioning the state's colonial violence and containment that maintains the relationship between the white ruling class and neo colonial government and oppressed African and Mexican working class.
In spite of neo-colonial Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums' expressions of pride in how crowd gathered peacefully initially following the verdict, te people had no right to freedom of speech and assembly since the rally was cordoned off within two blocks of the downtown area by thousands of police in riot gear and row police cars and helicopters overhead to ensure the farcical "freedom of speech" was contained and that no unsanctioned expressions of outrage could occur.
The fact is that the African community throughout Oakland was put on lockdown with twelve passenger vans of Oakland police patrolling the MacArthur corridor in front of the Uhuru House to quell any potential rebellion.
The media looked hard for a story that would justify the military style presence of the police; however, the fact is that when darkness fell in downtown Oakland a handful of people smashed windows, set fires and looted a Foot Locker store. The police had corralled hundreds of people and later declared "an unlawful assembly," putting on gas masks and taking out clubs to ensure that the police state was in full effect.
While the struggle for justice for Oscar Grant continues, the Uhuru Movement calls for the following demands:
1. Justice and reparations to the family of Oscar Grant and all victims of police violence from BART and the city of Oakland.
2. End the city of Oakland’s public policy of police containment of the African community carried out through police chief Anthony Batt's war on ‘gangs, guns and drugs’ and his recently imposed gang injunction.
3. Economic development for the African and Mexican communities.
We call on the community to:
• Support the right of the African community to resist the state violence.
• Join the Uhuru Movement.
http://www.uhurunews.com/
Meetings of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement on Tuesdays at 7pm at the Niebyl Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave, Oakland
