Oscar Grant and his daugher.
So you might have heard of it, on CNN, BoingBoing or Jacob’s livejournal entry – 27-year-old BART police officer Johannes Mehserle, a BART police officer, was involved in a fatal shooting of a 22-year-old father, Oscar Grant, on New Year Day. It was alleged that Grant and a few other passengers, who were pulled off the train at 2am in the morning by BART officers, were involved in a fight (something more than unruly conduct in public). Citizen journalism started to kick into action, with several citizen videos popping up on the Internet after the incident. Speculations and the absent of a statement from the police officer caused a peaceful protest to spiral out of control, culminating in the Oakland Riots.
Here are two videos shot by passengers on the BART train, shown on Channel 2:
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKy-WSZMklc[/video]
I couldn’t help but shake with fear as I watched the video – under the circumstances shown in the videos (well, there might be other things happening off screen or before the video recording started that might REMOTELY justify the use of a gun), the police officer crossed the line and played the role of an executioner instead of a cop maintaining law and order in public. There is a fine line between carrying out your duties to prevent public unrests and disturbance, such as intercepting an impending fight or unruly behavior, and literally executing those involved.
In the video, Grant was in a seated position and at one instance, putting both hands up in the air as a sign of submission and willingness to cooperate. Soon after that, two police officers were scene moving Grant from a seating position to a face-down position on the floor, kneeling on top of Grant. A brief struggle ensued between Grant and the police officers… and then moment came – one pulled his gun out and fired a shot, wounding him mortally and caused his death. There is even this outrageous alternative explanation around this shooting incident that the officer might have mistaken his gun for a Taser, while it should be noted that the feel of operating a revolver and a Taser is completely different.
I am deeply saddened by Grant’s death because the police officer had abused his power:
- Grant was unarmed – And what justifies the execution of an unarmed civilian that had shown willingness to cooperate? Why necessitates the drawing of the gun?
- Grant was seated and did not put up a struggle – It’s only necessary to use a Taser (and not a gun!) on a person when he/she turns violent and aggressive. Grant did not even put up a struggle prior to arrest, and he was in fact in a sitting position against the wall.
And you know what, this is murder. The police officer is punishable with the crime of homicide/murder, with a maximum jail term up to ten to fifteen years. A death sentence on him will not set things straight though – an eye for an eye never works.
My heart goes out to Grant’s widowed wife, his fatherless daughter and his friends and family.
[Edit]: A photo-grab from Flickr, showing civilised behaviour of a policeman and a passerby asking if he could join the protest in Oakland:
{007} Stand-off
While I was standing there taking this picture, the guy in the left of the frame was asking the police officer whether he could join the protest. The officer told him very politely that he could not, because it was an unlawful protest and the police officers were now just trying to contain it. The guy in the left of the frame asked about his Constitutional right to assembly. “I understand how you feel,” the officer said, “But these people have already committed acts of vandalism. Right now, our job is just to contain them.”
Thanks to TYWKIWDBI for the link.
Broken Glass - A lady inspects the damage done to the glass panels of a shop.
More photos of the Oakland Riots – read more about it on the Flickr blog as well.
This entry boiled some blood for me. It didn’t hit home personally but just enough. I often wonder, if people go into authority positions, do they still think for the common good, or do they think for their own good?
It’s just unfortunate how power corrupts the best of us all, and this is one of the prime examples of it. How the “forces” are supposed to represent good and justice have set out to cover their tracks and think that the law will protect them at all costs.
Unfortunately, even with such a scandal, you will see the city/country’s authority satisfying the media and public for a bit and the sentence will not stand strong for more than a few months. It’s pretty sad…
When is enough really enough? Some people love seeing others crumble beneath their weight of “strength” and “power”. But they don’t see that they’re really trampling on another precious life… I honestly don’t understand what people are thinking when they commit murder because they obviously don’t think how it affects someone else. The absence of one’s presence can affect another’s world completely.
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@Destiny: I was initially shocked by the shooting of an unarmed civilian but what made my blood boil was the video – as far as the videos tell, he didn’t put up a struggle at all until the police officers wrestled him to the ground without any form of provocation from him. This is a serious abuse of power and weapon that are meant to be used on dangerous, aggressive criminals that are causing harm to themselves, police officers and the public – but Oscar Grant satisfied none of the above criteria.
Too much power can indeed corrupt the moral of a person that is ‘bestowed’ with it, causing the officer to make a wrong (and fatal) bad judgement. I pray that the relevant authorities will look into this matter and not brush it off as an ‘unfortunate incident’ and that they are ‘deeply apologetic of the event fueled by unforeseen circumstances’… excuses, excuses and excuses. As far as I know, a lot of officers who have crossed the line will usually be suspended from duty, then submit some confession and an “I’m so sorry” session, then disappear away from the limelight and forever living under some protection scheme. Meh :( what happened to justice, and the police officers who were given the power to uphold it?
Murder is the most horrible crime a human being can ever make. Regardless of the circumstances. Nothing justifies the termination of one’s life.
I think it’s very sad to have such people enforcing the laws. Unfortunately not much measures are taken to ensure that people who have licenses to hold guns are worthy.
Ha ha. With great power, comes great responsibility ;)
See ya later
hmmmm…disheartening news…i would think that race would have played some factor in this incident
the israel gaza conflict is another heartache…sigh
It’s sad to hear of such news. I feel that sometimes the power is too much to handle and it often led to people abusing their powers and authority.
If someone with authority who are respected and are supposed to maintain law and order use their weapons (such as pistols for example) at another innocent, how is it different from a killer? How can the citizens depend on them for protection when they are the one posing the threat? :(
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@Dayna: I agree with you – too much power will only blind someone from his responsibility, his morals and his ethical framework. They simply become redundant and irrelevant to him. That’s why such tragedy happens.
The officer is one of the many who are entrusted with the power and authority to maintain public order and now he is in turn abusing it, which involves the death of a civilian. Why did he pull the gun, the trigger? He didn’t have to do it.
I’ve been seeing this on TV since it happened … I don’t know if I could really say one way or the other if this cop is really a murderer or not. This whole thing has been really sensationalised so it’s kind of a touchy thing. :/
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@cynthia: From the footages it is quite clear that Oscar Grant did nothing to provoke the officer, but we cannot be certain of it until a thorough investigation is carried out – and I believe that the government will just do some shoddy work and close the case, throwing excuses at members of the public and praying that we will forget it.
One thing for sure – I am sorry for Grant’s family and friends for their loss. He didn’t deserve it.
I’ll admit the ill-informed me hadn’t got the wind of this tragic news before this. The hairs on the back of my neck literally stood up when the guard pulled the trigger on Oscar Grant.
We may not know what remarks did Oscar Grant utter to that officer, personal or otherwise, when he was pinned face-down but nothing could justify the need to even pull out the gun on such a helpless and unarmed civilian!
My heart goes out to Oscar Grant and his family.
The world these days!
@ember: No you’re not alone. I didn’t know about the shooting until I saw photos of the Oakland Riots and I was wondering what could have possibly happen to provoke the wrath of the general public. I cursory browse of news websites like CNN and BBC revealed the shooting. Since the moment I watched the video, images of the cop shooting Grant in the back kept appearing in my mind. If he had not pulled his gun, or the trigger, the sensation would not have been so great.
Even if he insulted the police officer, he do not have the right to shoot him. The officer shall not forget that he is working for the public and shall not react personally (for example, hitting a criminal just because he was personally insulted).