BART agreed to its second pay-out for family of Oscar Grant, the unarmed man fatally shot from behind by former BART Officer Johannes Mehserle. According to the Examiner:
Grant’s mother, Wanda Johnson, filed a $50 million lawsuit against the agency for its role in the death of Grant. On Tuesday, the two sides agreed to a settlement that will pay Johnson $1.3 million, according to BART spokesman Linton Johnson.
BART previously agreed to pay Grant’s daughter, Tatiana, $1.5 million.
Ali Winston
A mural for Oscar Grant opposite the Fruitvale BART station
More than two years after Oscar Grant was fatally shot by former BART cop Johannes Mehserle, after hundreds of arrests, dozens of broken windows, and intensive media coverage, has Grant and Mehserle’s tragic story come to a close?
The criminal case filed by the Alameda County District Attorney against Mehserle is certainly over. The 29-year-old former officer was released from the Los Angeles Men’s Central Jail early this morning after serving 11 months of his two-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter.
The only other remaining piece of the legal puzzle is a potential civil rights case against Mehserle or BART — the U.S. Department of Justice has not yet indicated if it will pursue one. Protesters gathered yesterday in front of the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles to urge a federal indictment for Mehserle. Sunday afternoon saw another protest here in Oakland, which has been the epicenter for activism around Grant’s death and the scene of several civil disturbances over the past two years.
The rally did not have the same emotion or outrage as the July and November gatherings last year, perhaps because Mehserle’s fate had already been decided. At times, it felt as if the protest was a compelled response to the former officer’s release, part of a strange choreography between court proceedings and public demonstrations that has defined the Grant case for more than two years. Both the Fruitvale and Downtown Oakland rallies were held in the same locations as the past two years and many of the demonstrators were familiar faces from earlier protests.
Now that Mehserle’s criminal case is over, can Grant’s family, their supporters, and those awakened to the issue of police violence by Grant’s death sustain a level of activism? Is there something about Grant’s case – the visceral shock of seeing his death of film – that will differentiate its long-term impact from others who have lost their lives when police make mistakes? Several threads have defined Grant’s case: the court case, its impact on the community, the activism around the issue (by supporters of both Grant and Mehserle), and law enforcement surveillance of pro-Grant demonstrations. Here’s a look at the impact Grant’s death has had.
[[UPDATE 6:39 PM, 6/8/11: Bobby "Cephus" Johnson, Oscar Grant's uncle, told The Informant that he was notified earlier today that Mehserle will be released sometime on Monday morning, at some point between 12 AM and 8:30 AM. "He will be released Monday morning at some time, no one knows exactly when," said Johnson. "There's a lot of games being played" with Mehserle's release date, Johnson added.]]
Former BART Police officer Johannes Mehserle will be released from custody at the Los Angeles County Men’s Jail on Sunday, June 12th.
Relatives of Oscar Grant, the 22-year-old Hayward resident Mehserle shot and killed on the Fruitvale station platform on January 1, 2009, were notified of Mehserle’s impending release by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation this week.
Grant’s family received notice of Mehserle’s release thanks to 2008′s Proposition 9, a victim’s rights ballot measure that requires relatives of a crime victim to be contacted for input in the release of the person found culpable for that crime. Continue reading
Ali Winston
Pro-Mehserle protesters and opponents face off outside the Walnut Creek courthouse last July.
After serving eleven months of his 2-year sentence for the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day, 2009, former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle is expected to walk out of Los Angeles County Jail a free man within the next few weeks.
The website of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department lists Monday, June 13th as the next court date for Mehserle, who is currently incarcerated in the Men’s Central Jail in Downtown Los Angeles. The hearing will begin at 8:30 AM.
The family of Oscar Grant and their supporters view Mehserle’s release as an indication of the justice system’s shortcomings, and are pursuing a federal civil rights claim against Mehserle three other BART officers who were present when Grant was shot on the Fruitvale BART platform. Continue reading
Sentenced to two years for involuntary manslaughter in the killing of Oscar Grant, former BART Officer Johannes Mehserle could be released from a Los Angeles jail as early as mid-June. According to this ABC report, Mehserle is expected in court June 1 for a hearing on his release. Meanwhile, BART was just dropped as a defendant in a $50 million civil suit provoked by Grant’s death.
Ali Winston
Unconventional Action at a March 4, 2010 education protest.
One of the most noted tragedies in recent Bay Area history was the death of Oscar Grant. The unarmed 22-year-old was shot and killed by BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle two years ago on in the early morning hours of January 1st at the Fruitvale BART station.
The shooting sent shock waves throughout the Bay Area, setting off rounds of protests and civil disturbances over the following year and a half.
One of the largest demonstrations took place last July 8th, when Johannes Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. More than a thousand people gathered in Downtown Oakland to protest the jury’s decision. As darkness fell, there were running battles between police and protesters. Scores of people were arrested.
The Oakland Police Department prepared for the night of protests well in advance, calling it “Operation Verdict,” according to internal documents obtained by KALW’s Ali Winston.
Ali Winston
Unconventional Action in the Bay at a March 4, 2010 education protests.
The Oakland Police Department’s surveillance of demonstrators began long before the July 8th protests that greeted former BART officer Johannes Mehserle’s involuntary manslaughter conviction. Two logs obtained by The Informant indicate OPD monitored websites, Twitter feeds, public demonstrations, flyers and meetings to gather information about potential protests and the possibility of violence.
The documents also show a particular preoccupation with “anarchists” or the “black bloc,” a commonly-used term for black-clad protestors who have engaged in targeted property destruction (usually chain stores, banks and large corporations) at various demonstrations in Europe and the Americas since the mid-1990s.
There is also the possibility that OPD sent confidential informants or undercover officers to gatherings of Oscar Grant supporters. A June 29th entry in the log for OPD’s tip line reports on the announcement on the website Indybay of a meeting at the Niebyl Proctor Libray on Telegraph Avenue to plan “an organized militant response to the verdict.” The entry, which was logged by BART Officer Ken Dam, reads as follows:
Dave Id, Indybay.org
A demonstration outside the Los Angeles Criminal Courthouse in January, 2010
The surveillance of the Oscar Grant protests over the past two years extended beyond Oakland and San Francisco to Southern California, according to another set of internal Oakland Police documents and communications.
Intelligence bulletins and departmental emails indicate extensive communication between Oakland Police, officials in Los Angeles, and Northern California’s “fusion center,” an intelligence agency where Homeland Security and local law enforcement gather and share information.
Last month, the Informant revealed the involvement of federal and state law enforcement agencies in policing the July 8th protests that following Johannes Mehserle’s involuntary manslaughter conviction for the January 1, 2009 shooting of Oscar Grant on the Fruitvale BART platform.
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