Blue_Dolphin308
We can't help everyone, But everyone can help some
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Jury has the case now. Officers are preparing for riots!
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Jury has the case now. Officers are preparing for riots!
There is whole other thread on it in the Trials Forum, so perhaps the two threads should be merged???I am suprised this is not getting any discussion!
FWIW, it is true in general about police brutality in Oakland, but I don't believe that to be the case here. First of all, the officer was a BART officer, not Oakland P.D. I've read that the victim was taunting the officers and resisting arrest. I really think Mehserle didn't intend to kill him and mistakenly drew his gun, rather than his taser. I hope the verdict comes back for involuntary manslaughter...I have also been following the case closely. My brother lives in Oakland. The cops there have a reputation for brutality against blacks there, but it is usually not caught on tape. The officer has just been charged with murder. From reports I heard earlier, the young man was trying to tell his companions to do everything that LE said. He also begged them not to taze him. Perhaps that gave the officer the idea? The guy seemed scared of the cop. I heard no yelling from the crowd on the tapes I have seen, at all, until after the shooting. I can see that the young man would be nervous if LE there is notrious for police brutality. The tapes are grainy and it all happens fast. I did not really see a look of shock on the officer's face. It went too fast and it was too grainy to make out but narration accompanying one of the vids states he looked shocked so I think that puts that impression in people's minds. He stood up, took out his gun, aimed, and shot at the guy. He then looked at his fellow officer for one second and then you could not see his face. The guy killed has a four year old. The officer who killed him just had a baby. It looked like an assasination to me. It's a tragedy for everyone involved but this officer does need to go to jail, IMO. Otherwise, how can LE maintain the public's trust? He could have mistaken it for a taser as some are saying, but they do have a different weight. If this is really what happened, then there needs to be some serious changes in the use of tasers, the type they use, if they can be used, etc. I read a report that the introduction of tasers has increased the incidents of police brutality. What a sad, sorrowful mess.
Ex-BART officer says he mistakenly pulled gun
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 9:42 a.m.
LOS ANGELES — A former San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer has testified that he mistakenly pulled out his handgun instead of a stun gun when he shot and killed an unarmed black man on an Oakland train platform last year.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<more at link>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jun/25/ex-bart-officer-says-he-mistakenly-pulled-gun/
FWIW, I actually believe the guy that he THOUGHT he'd pulled his stun gun. From the very beginning eye-witnesses said after the gun discharged, the officer looked stunned. I immediately thought he'd meant to pull the stun gun rather than his hand gun.
I don't know if it'll make any difference. Too bad an innocent young life was lost because of a 'mistake.'
JMHO
fran
Ex-BART officer says he mistakenly pulled gun
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 9:42 a.m.
LOS ANGELES A former San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer has testified that he mistakenly pulled out his handgun instead of a stun gun when he shot and killed an unarmed black man on an Oakland train platform last year.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<more at link>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jun/25/ex-bart-officer-says-he-mistakenly-pulled-gun/
FWIW, I actually believe the guy that he THOUGHT he'd pulled his stun gun. From the very beginning eye-witnesses said after the gun discharged, the officer looked stunned. I immediately thought he'd meant to pull the stun gun rather than his hand gun.
I don't know if it'll make any difference. Too bad an innocent young life was lost because of a 'mistake.'
JMHO
fran