Hundreds of people gathered on the streets in Oakland, Calif. last night to express their anger and outrage over the controversial shooting of Oscar Grant III by a former Bay Area Rapid Transit officer on New Year’s Day. Grant was unarmed and handcuffed. He was shot in the back and died several hours later. The shooting officer, Johannes Mehserle, quit following the shooting.
Over the past week, several videos of the shooting, captured by passengers on camera phones and small digital cameras, have surfaced on the Internet, drawing outrage from concerned citizens who are tired of what they consider to be ongoing terrorism at the hands of the police. The video shows the officer pull out a gun and shoot Grant, 22, in the back while he is handcuffed. After the shooting, Mehserle and the other officers involved in the incident appear to be confused and take several seconds to react.
On Wednesday, protestors rampaged through the streets of downtown Oakland nearly creating a riot. The public dismay lasted several hours. Mayor Ron Dellums tried to calm the upset crowd from the steps of City Hall, urging them to “deal with each other with respect.
“I sense your anger,” he told the crowd. “I sense your pain and your frustration.”
He then vowed that the city, which actually has no jurisdiction over the incident, would investigate the shooting like “any other homicide.” Still upset, the crowd began shouting jeers and booing as the mayor retreated back inside City Hall, demanding that Mehserle be brought to justice.
According to the Oakland Tribune, about a dozen protestors began smashing windows of nearby businesses and cars. Police responded by firing tear gas. At least 13 people were arrested in the incident. Currently, damage estimates are impossible to estimate. -j.h.
