Video Analysis - Was Pirone Justified When He Punched Oscar Grant

BART Police Officers Tony Pirone (left) and Johannes Mehserle (right)

Tony Pirone, the BART police officer who has been accused of punching Oscar Grant in the head before he was shot in the back by Johannes Mehserle, has retained a lawyer and his lawyer has made a public statement suggesting that his client was justified when he struck Grant.

His lawyer, Bill Rapoport, claims that he had a video expert analyze the video which shows Pirone striking Grant and claims that it shows Grant attempting to hit Pirone with his knee at least twice.

So, I decided to take another look myself, using the same video I analyzed when I discovered that Pirone struck Grant the first time to see if his lawyer's claim holds any water.

When watching this video yourself, focus on Grant's legs, specifically, watch his hips and thighs. In order to use a knee strike, one has to bend their legs at the hip and pull the leg up from the hip to at least a 45 degree angle or greater, ideally while swiveling at the hip at the same time. To be an effective knee strike to the groin or torso, the knee needs to come up to 90 degrees, perpendicular to the hip.

00:00 - At the begining of the video, Pirone is holding down a man that he had already handcuffed several feet away from where Oscar Grant and two others are standing against a wall talking with another officer. If Grant was being combative at this time, why didn't the other officer restrain Grant?


00:05 - Pirone stands up and begins walking over to Oscar Grant and the two others standing against the station wall. He doesn't rush which indicates he doesn't sense a threat from the three, nor does it appear as though he feels the three are threatening his fellow officer.


00:06 - Pirone has just about reached Grant and begins to raise his arms towards Grant, signalling an intent to go hands-on as soon as he reaches Grant. Grant cannot knee Pirone at this point and is still turned towards the other officer.


00:07 - Pirone reaches Grant and immediately grabs him by the front of his shirt, there is no hessitation and Grant's legs are clearly visible at this point, with no evidence that Grant attempted to knee Pirone, as Pirone's lawyer claimed.


00:08 - As Pirone begins shaking Grant back and forth, Grant is forced to take a step forward with his right foot in order to keep himself steady, the step forward is clearly an effort to keep his balance and there is still no evidence of an attempted knee strike.


Grant then takes a stutter-step in an effort to keep his balance while still being moved around by Pirone, but his legs remain straight, they don't bend sufficiently enough to be termed a knee-strike.


00:09 - The camera is jostled up which obscures Grant's lower legs, but his thighs are still visible enough to show that he never moves his legs up from his hip, which would be necessary for a knee-strike.


00:10 - At this point Pirone punches Grant in the face so hard that his head snaps back and his legs buckle underneath him and the witnesses from the train audibly gasp. Grant begins to slide down the side of the platform wall while Pirone attempts to hold him up.


00:11-00:13 - The camare jostles too much to get a clear view of what happens for these 2 seconds.


00:14 - Pirone has let go of Grant and appears to order Grant to sit against the platform wall.


00:14-00:17 - Grant complies and slides to a seated position. As Pirone steps forward again he appears to be holding a taser, and Grant puts his hands up, palms out, in supplication.


00:21 - Pirone points what may be a taser at a subject to Grant's right and that person begins to go to the seated position.


00:24 - Pirone takes a few steps back.


00:27 - Another officer approaches from Pirone's left. At this time Prione could have told this officer to restrain Grant, which he should have done if Grant had attempted to strike him, after all, attempting to hit an officer is an arrestable offense and Prione would have put his fellow officers at risk if he didn't have Grant handcuffed at that time.


00:29 - Pirone turns and walks towards the other person who is laying, already handcuffed, a few feet away from Grant.


00:30-00:49 - The camera holder apparently tries to hide his camera or moves to find a better vantage point.


00:49 - Grant is still not handcuffed and officers appear to be focused on a man seated to Grant's left when the camera regains it's vantage point.


00:53 - While Pirone is bent over talking to Grant on Grant's front-right side, an officer who appears to be Mehserle begins struggling with the man on Grant's left and then hits the man on the top of the head with a downward strike of the type that would indicate that he was using a blunt object.

Grant remains seated, witness accounts stated that Grant was attempting to calm the others down at this point. It's difficult to determine whether this strike on the other man by the officer who appears to be Mehserle was warranted or not.


00:53-1:22 Grant and Prione continue to have some sort of discussion that includes some back and forth finger-pointing, but nobody attempts to actually place Grant under arrest and handcuff him.


01:23 - Pirone appears to order Grant's arrest and Mehserle pulls Grants arms behind him while Grant is in a kneeling position. A full minute and 13 seconds has elapsed since Pirone punched Grant in the head. Again, if Pirone's lawyer's claims were true, why take so long before ordering the arrest of Grant?


01:27 - Grant appears to be pushed face first down to the platform floor and Pirone drops down to plant his knee on Grant's neck.


01:27 - 01:30 - What's interesting at this point is that while Mehserle attempts to get Grant's left arm and lets go of Grant's right arm, Grant keeps his right arm behind his back on his own.


If Grant was truly struggling against officers, he would pull his right arm back in or put it under him so he could push up off the officers, but he doesn't, which indicates instead that he is struggling to comply with demands to give officers his other arm, which he might not be able to do since officer Prione has him immobilized with his knee in Grant's neck.

...from this point on, sadly, we know the rest.

From this video, it's fairly clear that Grant did not attempt to knee Pirone and it's clear that Pirone was the aggressor as he grabbed Grant and began to shake him as soon as he reached Grant... and that he did this without provocation, at least without legally justifiable provocation... unless Grant has an invisible leg with an equally invisible knee that can extend outwards to several feet away.

It's also clear that the actions subsequent to Pirone punching Grant do not mesh with Prione's lawyer's account of events since, if Grant had attempted to assault Pirone, he should have been taken into custody and been physically restrained at that point. Instead, Pirone turns his back on Grant and leaves him unrestrained for over a minute before ordering his arrest.

So, why am I bothering posting about the Oscar Grant case again, even when I said I wouldn't and I'm sure that my readers are tired of hearing about it?

Well, honestly, I do think it's very possible for what happened to Oscar Grant to happen to me some day. After all, police officers aren't very happy about what this site is about and sometimes they have problems controlling their tempers.

So, if what happened to Oscar Grant happened to me, I would want someone out there to stick up for me and take the time to make sure that others didn't try to cover up what really happened and that I was defended when the people who harmed me also tried to harm my reputation after my death.

...wouldn't you too?

Oscar Grant Shooting Update - Mehserle Granted Bail and More

BART Police Officers Tony Pirone (left) and Johannes Mehserle (right)

As you may have already read, there's been some updates in the Oscar Grant shooting case. This will likely be the last I post about this case for a while, I think regular readers are a bit annoyed that I've devoted so many posts to this case, and I apologize for that.

Mehserle Granted Bail
The BART officer who shot Grant in the back, Johannes Mehserle, was allowed to be released on $3 million bail today by a skeptical judge who indicated he felt the argument advanced by Mehserle's defense attorney didn't match with video evidence or previously released information, but that his hands were tied as to whether or not Mehserle could get out on bail.

I'm tempted to do a comparison between the defense's argument and the available video evidence because it doesn't seem to kosher to me either, but I don't think anyone wants to read more analysis from me.

Trust Fund Established For Oscar Grant's Daughter
A trust fund has been set up for Oscar Grant's daughter, Tatiana. According to witnesses Grant's daughter was top-most in his mind that night has he plead with officers not to shoot him because he had a young daughter at home... so, I think it would be his wish that people do something positive for his daughter in his memory. For those wishing to donate the fund is
Tatiana Grant Trust Fund, account number 3879027641
Wells Fargo Bank
950 Southland Drive
Hayward, CA, 94545

BART Chief Urges His Officers To Give Donations To Mehserle
Of course, while the community supports the victim, officers are supporting the man who shot Oscar Grant instead. Details about a memo given to BART officers from the BART chief of police tells officers how they can put money in Mehserle's jail account so he can get goodies from the jail commissary during his stay there. One would think that officers would want information about how to give donations to the daughter of the man they needlessly shot to death, but apparently one would be mistaken.

Charges Dropped Against Man Who Claimed Mehserle Beat Him
Charges have been dropped against a man who came forward to complain that Mehserle had attacked him and then arrested him for resisting arrest without a supporting charge in December. BART officials admit that the man, Kenneth Carrethers, actually did try to file a complaint with them that might have tipped them off to Mehserle's possible anger management issues, but that the person who takes complaints was on vacation... No wonder their investigation was so flawed, apparently there's only one person there who investigates misconduct.

SF Chronicle Says BART Investigation Was Flawed From The Start
Giving some insight to the BART internal investigation of the Oscar Grant shooting through unnamed sources, it appears as though BART officers at the scene may have attempted to cover up the shooting death of Oscar Grant from the start when they sent a train load of witnesses away and then didn't notify supervisors that there was an officer-involved shooting at the platform.

This would explain why none of the witnesses BART chose to talk to had mentioned Pirone punching Grant despite a video that clearly shows that punch and the crowd's outraged reaction to that punch, which would indicate that there were plenty of people who saw Pirone attack Grant before he was arrested for "resisting" and then shot after Pirone had pinned him in a way that prevented him from complying with demands to put both of his arms behind his back, as my analysis of the video argued on 01/11/09.

Oscar Grant Shooting Update - Other Officers Might Finally Be Investigated

As I reported on 01/11/09, my analysis of the publicly available BART shooting videos clearly indicated that a second officer could be seen punching Grant in the head prior to the shooting... we published that analysis a full two weeks ago, and finally it seems as though others are reaching the same conclusion that I did, as KTVU reported yesterday.

Photo of a security officer named Tony Pirone taken in 2004 at California's Lawrence Livermore Labs (pdf) matching the build, facial profile, and hair style of the officer seen in videos punching Grant and kneeling on his neck.

I also argued that it was this same second officer, now identified as officer Tony Pirone by The San Fransisco Chronicle, also appeared to be the same officer who "took a knee" on Grant's neck while he was laying face-down on the platform which would have caused enough pain to make in involuntarily squirm, which would explain what others are describing as a struggle, when it was clear he was cooperative up to that point.

This is why, when Mehserle was charged with murder for shooting Oscar Grant on 01/14/09, I argued that Mehserle should not be the only BART officer facing criminal charges. Now others are starting to agree as well and have forced BART officials to make a statement that they will order BART police to investigate the other officers who were there that night.

While it is encouraging that the media is finally taking notice to what the video evidence is showing and the BART authority has claimed it will investigate these "new revelations"... it's disturbing that, prior to today, the BART authority and the prosecuting attorney reviewing the case had indicated that they were not going to investigate any other officers up to this point.

I believe this clearly indicates the unwillingness of the investigating agencies to pursue this case, and here's why.

Let us assume that BART was being truthful when they claimed that officers at the scene of the shooting had confiscated numerous video recordings from passengers who had recorded the incident that night.

Let's also assume that even if those videos were merely taken to keep the evidence from going public and was erased, that BART authorities and others were able to review the videos that did go public... after all, they were publicly available.

Finally, let's assume that they at least had available to them the same technology I did when I reviewed the video evidence and had officers who were trained to analyze such evidence reviewing it.

If we make these very reasonable assumptions it becomes difficult to reconcile that BART officials have only just now indicated that the BART police department will now perform an internal investigation into Pirone's use of force that night and that, up to this point, District Attorney Orloff has indicated that he will not be investigating any other officers for criminal charges related to that night's events.

So, how is it that, up to today, Pirone has not been charged and was not being internally investigated by the BART PD for misconduct when the evidence released to the public clearly showed a case of excessive force? After all, if I was able to identify the actions of Pirone from analyzing the meager two videos that had been released to the public and the media was able to see it in their analysis later on, you can be certain that professional analysts and police officers who are trained to observe details would have seen it in their analysis of all the video evidence they professed to have collected that night...

Unless they merely collected that video evidence in order to cover it up.

Even then, even if they had disposed of all the evidence they had collected from other passengers that night and ignored witness testimony that most definitely would have indicated that officer Pirone had punched Grant prior to the shooting (in the video you can hear clear reactions from witnesses when Pirone punches Grant), there is still the publicly released videos that show the same story, that Pirone had used excessive force on Grant.

So, if the prosecutor and the BART PD had seen the same evidence that we've seen, the same evidence that had led me, the media, and several legal professionals to the conclusion that Pirone used excessive force, why is it that BART has just now pledged to look into allegations that Pirone used excessive force and why is it that the prosecutor is now refusing to comment on the investigation when he made it clear last week that he was not investigating the activity of any other officers who took part in that arrest and shooting?

Because BART and the city of Oakland are still unwilling to hold their officers accountable for their actions. There is simply no other explanation.

Given this... we can only wonder at all the other instances of abuse that have gone unpunished up to this point, and wonder how many more will be covered up in the future since BART and the city of Oakland have made it clear that they are unwilling to persue cases of misconduct to the best of their abilities in the absence of intense public pressure and scrutiny.

Worst of all, we must wonder at the chances for a successful prosecution of Mehserle when the prosecutor is clearly unwilling to fully investigate what and who ultimately caused the shooting death of Oscar Grant that night and hold those individuals accountable in the absence of public pressure to do so.

I fear, given the evidence at hand, that Mehserle will not be held accountable, and this will only serve to show other officers that they too can get away with murder even when their actions have been shown to the world.

Sadly, it just serves as more evidence that there are two justice systems in America, a fake system for the police, and a completely different one for the rest of us...

Johannes Mehserle Charged With Murdering Oscar Grant - But More Questions Remain

Alameda Country District Attorney Tom Orloff announced that his office has charged Johannes Mehserle with murder in the shooting death of Oscar Grant on New Years Day. Orloff, according to the Press-Enterprise, went on to say that "At this point, what I feel the evidence indicates, is an unlawful killing done by an intentional act and from the evidence we have there's nothing that would mitigate that to something lower than a murder..."

Mehserle was arrested on a fugitive warrant for those charges yesterday evening in Nevada and is to be transported back to Alameda County, California some time before Friday after he waived his rights to an extradition hearing today in a Nevada court.

While the attorney representing Grant's family said the news of these charges was "terrific" and "consistent with the evidence I have seen". The rapid turn-around from previous delay tactics used by the BART authority and the District Attorney's office leaves some questions unanswered.

First, if the evidence of intentional murder gathered by the BART authorities and DA's office in this case were so conclusive, why is it that in previous news conferences the BART authority stated that, despite confiscating numerous cell phone cameras and other video evidence from several witnesses that night, the videos they had collected were too inconclusive to draw any conclusions?

Those previous statements either evidence an attempted cover-up by BART officials that should be investigated as aiding and abetting a murder suspect, or these statements indicate that officers who confiscated evidence of a crime that night had tampered with evidence of a murder and must be investigated.

Either way, the contrast between the DA's charge that the evidence was conclusive and BART's previous statements that it was inconclusive demands answers.

Next, there has been no word on whether other officers are being investigated for their participation in the murder of Oscar Grant. As our analysis of the video evidence that was released to the public by witnesses showed, another officer had punched Oscar Grant before he was taken to the ground, restrained, and then shot in the back by BART officer Mehserle.

This alone would make that officer an accessory to murder if it wasn't also for his assistance in holding Grant down with his knee on Grant's neck when he was shot. As our analysis showed, that second officer watched as Mehserle started to draw his service weapon and shifted his hold on Grant in order to move out of the line of fire while still restraining Grant when he was shot.

Clearly this would evidence that the other officer was aware that Mehserle was about to shoot Oscar Grant and that his actions to continue to hold Grant on the floor of the station while Mehserle fired would make him an accessory to murder. Since this is the case, the silence about whether other parties might face charges in this case is equally disturbing as the disparity of statements between BART and the District Attorney's announcement today.

The arrest of Mehserle gives us more questions than answers, and those questions demand further investigation and transparency, not more silence and inaction.

BART Officer Johannes Mehserle Arrested In Nevada

Ex-BART Officer Johannes Mehserle's booking photograph: via KOLO TV in Nevada

Updated: 10:41 01-15-09
Updated post available here. - 13:00 01/15/09 


According to The Mercury News, Johannes Mehserle was arrested Tuesday night by Douglas County sheriff's deputies in northwest Nevada on a no-bail warrant reportedly related to the Fruitvale BART station shooting death of Oscar Grant on January 1.

While confirming the arrest, Alameda County DA Tom Orloff's office refuses to discuss the case until a press conference to be held sometime on Wednesday. However, according to a press release issued by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, they were notified Tuesday morning that an arrest warrant for homicide from the Alameda County Superior Court was pending against Mehserle and that Mehserle surrendered to police after his lawyer was notified of the warrant.

Mehserle waived his right to extradition hearings at a 9:15 am hearing in court while wearing leg and wrist shackles Wednesday and California authorities have until Friday to take custody of him and return him to Alameda County.

Mehserle's lawyer has refused to comment on the arrest, as he has for all other aspects of the case, but the lawyer representing Grant's family in a civil case against the Bay Area Rapid Transit agency over the shooting applauded the arrest.

You can read our analysis of the video which shows why Mehserle and at least one of his fellow officers should be charged in this case here. Also, you can find an analysis of why we shouldn't get our hopes up quite yet that Mehserle will face any real accountability for his actions that took Grant's life just a few hours into the new year in this NewsWatch issue.

*personal note - Some newer readers may wonder why I'm covering this case so closely. First, while it's common to hear allegations of unwarranted shootings by police officers, it's rare that such a shooting is captured on video and even rarer still that such a video makes it out into the public domain like this one has.

While certainly saddening and upsetting to see such a video, and it may sound strange to think it, but I hope that something positive comes from his seemingly senseless death.

I say this not just for his family, for whom my heart goes out to... and not just for the residents of the Oakland California area either... but that it may get people across the nation to consider that police accountability, transparency, and a serious look at racism in police agencies is something that we all need to push for.

Ultimately I hope this convinces people that we should all do what we can to ensure that what happened to Oscar Grant doesn't happen to anyone else, anywhere, ever again. That's why I've been covering this case... because any of us could could have been Oscar Grant, or may yet be.

Updated: 10:41 01-15-09

When Assault Becomes Murder - An Analysis of the Oscar Grant Shooting

The videotaped shooting death of Oscar Grant by BART police officer Johannes Mehserle has stirred angry demands for criminal charges from the public as BART officials and the Alameda County District Attorney have dragged their feet.

Officials claim that they need more time to investigate what the public has already seen... a police officer shooting an unarmed man who posed no threat in the back, in cold blood.

The BART police department, transit authority, and District Attorney, Tom Orloff, have all made it clear that they are desperately seeking evidence to absolve the officer by floating speculation that it was an accident of some sort or that there was some justification for the shooting that wasn't captured on the three different videos that have been released to the public... videos that all show the same thing... an unjustified killing.

Fellow police officers have also tried to do the same by floating the theory of "taser confusion" as cause for this killing, suggesting that it's easy to confuse a brightly colored device that is lighter than, has a different grip than, and is supposed to be carried on the opposite side than a service weapon.

Even if we accept this dubious possibility the death is still a criminal matter by way of shear negligence. But there's another disturbing aspect to this death which makes it a crime of intent. it is an aspect that has been entirely missed so far, but was ultimately the series of actions that needlessly put Oscar Grant in harm's way that night.

To understand what caused the arrest of Oscar Grant to spiral downward into murder we need to examine the actions of the other officer, not just Mehserle's. It was this officer who escalated the arrest of an unarmed and cooperative suspect into a use of force situation without any apparent reason whatsoever, and that is what ultimately cost Oscar Grant his life.

The Analysis
Note: the following analysis is of this third video from KTVU shot from the train by a cell phone camera. Even though it's quality isn't as good as the others and I can't embed it here, it's important to use this as an index because it starts before the others and shows the unnamed officer strike Grant in the face, which is likely what caused others to start filming.

An analysis of this video shows that:

At mark 00:10 an unidentified bald officer walks up and punches Oscar Grant in the face. This is obvious in the video as the officer's arm moves forward and Grant's head snaps back and Grant begins to collapse. After striking Grant the officer moves him to a seated position and Grant puts his hands up palm forward in supplication, the officer orders another man to sit and then leaves after a few seconds.

At 01:23, after the bald officer returns he appears to order the detainees arrest, this is apparent as the officers were talking with the suspects until the bald officer marched back over. At this point Mehserle moves Grant to a kneeling position and pulls Grant's arms behind him, there is no sign of resistance at this point.

However, at 01:26 Mehserle pushes Grant face first to the ground while the bald officer plants his knee on Grant's neck, which causes Grant to involuntarily squirm due to the pain of that maneuver. Up to this point there appeared to be no threat posed by Grant to justify the use of this tactic.

At 01:28 Mehserle makes a furtive grab for his service weapon, but then stops.

At 01:45 Mehserle grabs at his service weapon again, this time he continues to try to pull it from the holster for at least 2 full seconds, ample time to have figured out that this was not a taser which is held in a different type of holster and has a different feel.

Four seconds later, at 01:49, the bald officer shifts his stance to the other side of Grant to put himself out of the line of fire, but resumes his pain compliance hold with his knee on Grant's neck while Mehserle pulls his service weapon from the holster. This would indicate that the order to fire, whether it was to fire a taser or the Mehserle's service weapon, came from the bald officer.

At 01:51 Mehserle gets into his stance and aims his weapon at Grant while the bald officer maintains his hold. If this was in prep for the application of a taser the bald officer would have moved away now to avoid getting shocked.

At 01:52 Mehserle fires a shot into Grant's back as the bald officer continues to hold him face down on the floor of the station.

It's only one second later, at 01:53, that the bald officer finally stands up and steps away from the mortally injured Grant.


The Conclusion
The actions of the unnamed bald officer's aggressive use of force, both when he punches Grant in the face at the beginning of the video and when he needlessly employed a pain compliance move on a suspect that was otherwise cooperative, are what ultimately led to Grant's death. It is why there must be criminal charges in this case, a case of assault that resulted in the death of an unarmed person...

To understand this, consider that the unnamed officer is seen "taking a knee" on Oscar Grant's neck. This police tactic is relatively new and used often as a pain compliance move that both immobilizes a suspect and causes severe pain in order to, supposedly, force dangerous suspects to comply with orders that would allow for restraints to be applied when they otherwise wouldn't.

Clip taken from the arrest of Mike Ladd at an anti-war march in Seattle on 03/2007. Charges against Ladd for resisting arrest were later dropped when this video proved the application of the officer's pain compliance holds prevented Ladd from following commands to put his hands behind his back.

The problem with this hold is that it does such a good job of immobilizing a suspect that it often renders them incapable of following commands to put their arms behind them so cuffs can be applied, especially if the person held has tried to catch their fall when thrown to the ground and ends up with an arm trapped underneath them when the hold is applied.

More than this, the hold causes so much pain that most people can't help but kick their legs and squirm in pain as a reflexive response to that pain, which often causes officers to use even more force to enact an arrest, including the use of another pain compliance tool called a taser.

The last image recorded on AP photojournalist Matthew Rourke's before he was arrested in St. Paul as documented here. It shows how suspects will often react involuntarily to the application of this painful move.

This problem with the "taking a knee" on a suspect's neck has been documented before and has resulted in suspect being cleared of resisting arrest charges upon review of video evidence before, yet the tactic remains a favorite of police officers everywhere. As seen numerous times in St. Paul during the RNC protests.

It was the other officer's rush to use force to enact the arrest of the otherwise non-threatening Oscar Grant and that officers rush to needlessly use a pain compliance hold on a person who presented no threat that set into motion the series of events which cost Oscar Grant his life on New Years morning... irregardless as to whether the bullet that tore through his back was fired accidentally or on purpose.

In other words, the two officers involved with detaining Oscar Grant intended to hurt him without justification that night, and that's considered a crime called assault. And when the crime of assault results in a death, that's considered murder, even if the death was the ultimate intent of the two officers involved or not.

Updated 17:39 01/11/09

The Oscar Grant Shooting - A Study Of America's Dualistic Justice Systems

Video of the Oscar Grant shooting that we first covered here on 01/05/09 when the video was released to the public by witnesses.

updates available here, here, and here

In the early hours of New Years Day 2009, 22 year old Oscar Grant pleaded with the officers who detained him by telling them he had a young daughter at home in the same way one might try to personalize oneself to a criminal in hopes that a connection will be made when being threatened with harm.

Yet, for as of yet unknown reasons, officers pushed him face-down to the floor of the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland California and while one officer knelt with his knee on Grant's neck BART officer Johannes Mehserle attempted to pull Grant's arms behind him... and the world now struggles to make sense of what several witnesses captured on video next.

Videos show Mehserle making a furtive move for the firearm holstered on his right hip, then show him pull away to grab Grant's arms again. Then Mehserle grabs at the same firearm holstered at his right hip a second time, draws his firearm, cradles it with his left hand, and fires a round into Grant's back while he laid, face-down, on the station floor while a second officer controlled him by leveraging his body-weight on his neck.

The shot that killed Oscar Grant spurred angry yells from the multitudes of passengers who witnessed it, yet BART officials kept quiet about it for days, and sought to keep it quiet by confiscating any video equipment and cell phone cameras they could find. Yet some made it out, and the videos went public five days later...

...and now the angry yells from the multitudes who have witnessed this shooting via video haven't stopped since.

The tragic injustice of the shooting itself is compounded by the injustice of America's dualistic justice system, a system that unbalances itself against citizens accused of wrongdoing to the point of punishing them prior to determination of guilt and a second system that goes out of it's way to find any means necessary to find police officers innocent of any accusations... even in the face of something so obviously criminal as the video of the Oscar Grant killing shows us.

Any similar case against a civilian would spur an instant arrest, the suspect would have been taken into custody and officers would attempt to interrogate him immediately after reading the suspect his rights.

Meanwhile officers would gather any evidence that they could find which would bolster the charges made against the suspect, including witness testimony, and ignore any evidence or testimony that would run counter to their case.

The suspect would then be jailed and, depending on the conditions of the jail, this entails a varying degree of punishment in and of itself which in many cases can include the denial of medical care, starvation rations or inedible food, exposure to unsanitary conditions, or even abuse by guards.

There the suspect would stay until pulled in front of a judge some days later for a probable cause hearing where prosecutors would argue for the highest bail possible in hopes of keeping the suspect in custody as long as possible until an actual trial while they worked to bolster their case against the suspect.

This cycle would continue with other hearings and more gathering of evidence in the hopes of getting enough incriminating evidence to win a conviction while officers would release damning statements and information via the press to show how they did a good thing by getting the suspect off the streets.

But this isn't what happens when the suspect is a police officer. As BART officials, prosecutors, and Oakland's public officials have shown us, instead of building a case against officer Mehserle they have been desperate to consider any and every possible explanation that could clear him of any wrongdoing. Instead of prosecuting him, they are acting as his defense attorney.

The roles of the American justice system reverse themselves when it's a cop accused of wrongdoing. Police officers are paying for Mehserle's defense lawyers and issuing statements of support to the media instead of slights about his character.

Prosecutors are seeking any evidence that might clear officer Mehserle or throwing out any possible excuse for his actions that cost the life of an unarmed father that night when otherwise they would have painted it in the worst light if it were a civilian.

City officials are begging citizens to disregard what their eyes have shown them, begging them to consider the officer innocent until proven otherwise when they would never give any civilian suspect that consideration or effort.

They insist the video we see is too inconclusive, that something unseen in a piece of video evidence that would have been sufficient to convict a normal person is somehow insufficient to press charges against one of their own cops.

While the mere accusation of wrongdoing of any sort would have been sufficient to get a normal person fired and arrested, in the US it gets you a paid vacation while you wait for the investigation to clear you if you are a cop... and even then, if there is an investigation you can still refuse to cooperate as Mehserle has done.

After a full week's worth of paid vacation for officer Mehserle after the shooting the department finally sought to question him about the shooting.

But the wonderful thing about being a cop is that Mehserle was allowed to resign before that questioning could happen... and the department still urges the public to consider the possibility that it was just an accident or that it was somehow Oscar Grant's fault that he was shot in the back by officer Mehserle.

In Oakland, the Oscar Grant killing illustrates the dual injustices of the American justice system. They have given us a clear example that shows how, in America, authorities treat you as if you are guilty until you can prove otherwise... unless you're a cop.

What is this dualistic justice system costing Oakland now? How much good will from the public have officials wasted by trying to convince the public that they should treat this killing different than how they would have if it were done by a civilian and captured on video for the world to see?



Yesterday the riots just started in Oakland... and with those will come more questionable arrests captured on video, and more outrage, and more frustration with the dual justice systems that protect cops and make citizens vulnerable to abuses... which will spark more violence from one side or the other.

Yes, riots and violence in response to this is counter productive, violence always is... but how can we expect lawful behavior when the government and police enforce one set of laws on the populous while giving themselves an entirely different set of laws?

But even the riots won't show the true cost this injustice will exact in trust and good will from the public, the same trust and good will that the police must ultimately depend upon to do their jobs effectively.

That cost will have to be paid down the road when officials wonder why witnesses don't come forward to the police with information about crimes or when officers get dirty looks or glances of distrust from a public kept in the dark about the misconduct of police.

Reminders of the tragic death of Oscar Grant will continue to keep the injustice of it fresh in our minds and the outrage of it on our lips for some time to come... yet the response by public officials to the tragedy only serve to deepen that sense of loss, amplify it, and makes the wound that Oscar Grant's death leaves all the more difficult to heal.

Police Misconduct NewsWatch for 01-05-09

Cell phone video taken by witness to the BART shooting in Oakland, CA.

BART Officers in Oakland California Shoot Man In Back While He Pleads For His Life
22 year old Oscar Grant was fatally shot by BART officers in Oakland California while laying face down on the ground and begging officers for his life. We would likely be hearing a different story about this unwarranted shooting if it weren't for several witnesses video taping the incident at the same time and turning those over to the media instead of to the police department, which is still defending the officer involved.

Lawyer Alleges Police And Public Officials Conspired To Ruin A Man's Life
Disturbing case from West Virginia reported in the lawyer's blog who is representing his client who alleges that West Virginia officials and Snowshoe Mountain police officers conspired with the woman he was divorcing, to falsely imprison him, have him beaten, raped, and worse. The charges used to cover up for the attacks? Public intoxication, which doesn't even garner jail time in West Virginia.

*Tip thanks to Aaron from the Washington State Criminal Defense blog.

Illinois Officer Arrested on Allegations That He Sexually Assaulted Woman He Detained
Illinois State Police have arrested a Alorton Village Police officer on suspicion of sexual misconduct over allegations that he raped a woman that he pulled over. As part of that investigation the officer's unmarked police car has been sent to the state forensics lab for examination.

Former Pro Bowl Football Player Alleges Police Assaulted Him Without Reason
Former Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman Carl Eller is facing trial for charges of DUI, fleeing police, assault of an officer, and "making terroristic threats" against officers over an arrest on April 9th, 2008.

However, he also has a suit against Minneapolis for improper use of force in the incident... the lawsuit alleges that officers used tasers, choke holds, and blows from a flashlight over nothing more than a moving violation and that the department then intentionally destroyed video evidence of that arrest.

A Former Cop Files Criminal Charges Against Current Officer After Police Refuse To File Charges
A former cop's car was hit and the suspect fled the scene on August of 2007, but someone witnessed the accident and wrote down the license number of the driver who hit his car... but police never did anything else about the case, so the former officer filed charges himself and prosecutors refuse to cooperate.

Why? Because the suspect is a current police officer with the Baltimore Police Department, which is what an officer told him at the scene with a chuckle. The former officer says this:

"If this group went to this extent to cover up a very minor, $1,300 property damage hit-and-run, committed by a low-level officer, what do you think they are doing in other things?" Swiderski said. "I never saw something so blatant in all my 21 years as a police officer."

Indeed.

Connecticut Officers File Lawsuit Against Attorney General For Failing To Protect Them From Retaliation
Several police officers in Connecticut have filed a lawsuit against the state's attorney general for failing to protect them when they requested protection as whistleblowers reporting or investigating allegation of repeated incidents of police misconduct.

The officers include internal affairs investigators and state troopers who say the AG was more concerned about defending senior police managers and covering up misconduct than protecting whistleblowers and the victims of police misconduct.

Woman Sues Officer After Criminal Civil Rights Case Against The Officer Fails
While federal prosecutors and the testimony of five King County deputies couldn't convince the federal criminal jurors that Deputy Brian Bonnar had used excessive force and deprived Irene Damon of her rights when he allegedly beat her during an arrest, Irene has now turned to filing a civil case against the officer and the deparment.

Irene and the officers who testified in the criminal trial allege that Bonnar had struck her twice in the head with a knee after she was handcuffed. Bonnar was subject to a 20 day suspension without pay over the incident.