Oakland Erupts Again!
. . . BART officer Johannes Mehserle, alone on his job at that crowded station, shot and killed Oscar Grant and was virtually exonerated on Friday by a jury of his peers. He was sentenced to 2 years in prison for “an accidental shooting” and could be out in a matter of months.
Grant’s family strongly disagreed, alleging racism for a sentence they considered too lenient: “Wanda Johnson, the mother of Oscar Grant, shouted, ‘Oh my!’ when Superior Court Judge Robert Perry issued the two-year sentence. She burst out of the courtroom saying, ‘He got nothing! He got nothing!’ “ Grant’s uncle, Bobby Cephus Johnson, seconded that sentiment, saying, “I do believe it’s a racist criminal justice system.”
Neither he nor Grant’s mother explained the basis for their feelings but Grant’s uncle added that the family remained calm even as others cranked up the riot machine. “I have no power over what people feel their matter of expression should be,” he said. (http://tiny.cc/1hyfr)
When word of the sentence, passed down in Los Angeles, reached Oakland, protestors took to the streets, smashing windows and windshields and destroying fences, repeating the pillaging that had occurred back in 2009 when the shooting happened and again last July after the verdict was announced. In the latter riots, 800 protestors participated including some the police called known “anarchists” from outside the Oakland area.
As of now, the third upheaval . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=2526)
Showing posts with label johannes Mehrsele. Show all posts
Showing posts with label johannes Mehrsele. Show all posts
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Payback and Rodney King Redux in Oakland
Payback and Rodney King Redux in Oakland
The Rodney King case is almost 20 years old. King, a drunk pothead, was beaten almost senseless by both black and white LAPD cops after he resisted arrest on March 3, 1991 following a high speed chase.
King was tasered repeatedly but kept getting to his feet and resisting arrest. The ensuing beating by the LAPD to get him to cooperate was videotaped by a bystander. That videotape resulted in the deaths of 53 innocent people in the ensuing riots.
The police officers involved were exonerated by a state jury of their peers but then re-tried in federal court on charges of civil rights violations. Two of the cops were found guilty and sent to prison and two were acquitted.
Prior to the federal convictions and following the state exoneration, Los Angeles blacks erupted in what have been called the 1992 L.A. riots during which the Army, the Marines, and the National Guard were called out. Nevertheless, 53 people died, 2383 were injured, 7000 fires were set, 3100 businesses were attacked, and over a billion dollars in damages resulted.
Fast forward to 2010. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1778)
The Rodney King case is almost 20 years old. King, a drunk pothead, was beaten almost senseless by both black and white LAPD cops after he resisted arrest on March 3, 1991 following a high speed chase.
King was tasered repeatedly but kept getting to his feet and resisting arrest. The ensuing beating by the LAPD to get him to cooperate was videotaped by a bystander. That videotape resulted in the deaths of 53 innocent people in the ensuing riots.
The police officers involved were exonerated by a state jury of their peers but then re-tried in federal court on charges of civil rights violations. Two of the cops were found guilty and sent to prison and two were acquitted.
Prior to the federal convictions and following the state exoneration, Los Angeles blacks erupted in what have been called the 1992 L.A. riots during which the Army, the Marines, and the National Guard were called out. Nevertheless, 53 people died, 2383 were injured, 7000 fires were set, 3100 businesses were attacked, and over a billion dollars in damages resulted.
Fast forward to 2010. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1778)
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