Mehserle to serve 72 days and out.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Ex-BART officer Mehserle sentenced to two years in prison for fatal shooting of unarmed man

A former transit police officer convicted of involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting an unarmed man on an Oakland train station platform was sentenced Friday to two years in prison by a Los Angeles judge.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/11/bart-officer-sentenced.html

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Oakland residents erect memorial in front of City Hall for man shot by BART officer

As sentencing was announced in Los Angeles for former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle, a small shrine to the unarmed man he was convicted of shooting was being erected in front of Oakland City Hall.

Flowers and candles were arrayed in front of an outsize drawing of a smiling Oscar J. Grant III. A long white banner that read "Justice for Oscar Grant" stretched across the plaza, strewn with marking pens. Passersby left messages: "All my love & hope for change." "The fight is not over." "Love to Oscar Grant We Will Love and Honor You Forever."

On Broadway, Footlocker, whose windows were smashed and merchandise looted when the verdict came down, was closed, its plate glass covered with protective plywood. The same with Broadway Beauty and a nearby T-Mobile store. But restaurants and coffee shops stayed open, pedestrians strolled and traffic buzzed by. There was, however, a heavy police presence downtown.

Mehserle, who was convicted in July of involuntary manslaughter in the case, was sentenced by a Los Angeles judge Friday to two years in prison for the shooting of Grant on an Oakland train station platform on New Year’s Day 2009.

Updated, 2:15 p.m.: A coalition of civil rights organizations, including the California branch of the NAACP and The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, issued the following statement Friday, condemning the “lenient” sentencing of Mehserle:

“The sentence of two years minus time served is far more lenient than would normally be handed down in similar cases not involving law enforcement as the defendant. Combined with an already lenient conviction for involuntary manslaughter, the sentencing, which is a slap on the wrist for the murder of Oscar Grant, is a snapshot of everything wrong with the criminal justice system.... Police must be accountable to the communities in which they work.”

The groups urged the U.S. Justice Department to prosecute Mehserle in federal court. “These actions are necessary if California is to have safer, healthier communities, and if shootings like Oscar Grant’s are to be prevented in the future,” the release said.]

Mehserle, 28, contended that he mistakenly used his firearm instead of a Taser weapon when he shot Grant. But prosecutors argued at his trial that Mehserle meant to reach for his handgun as he tried to handcuff an unresisting Grant, who was laying face-down on the platform floor.

Grainy video footage captured by several witnesses shows Mehserle, who is white, firing one round into the back of Grant, who was black.

The racially charged case sparked rioting in Oakland soon after the shooting and again in July, when a Los Angeles jury acquitted Mehserle of murder but found him guilty of a lesser crime.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/11/oakland-residents-erect-a-memorial-in-front-of-city-hall-for-man-shot-by-former-bart-officer.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_me

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Oakland ready for any unrest after sentencing of ex-BART officer in shooting of unarmed man

Oakland officials said they are ready if things get unruly Friday night in the wake of what some protesters have called the lenient sentencing of a former BART police officer for the fatal shooting of an unarmed man.

Johannes Mehserle, 28, was sentenced Friday by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge to two years in prison for the shooting of Oscar J. Grant III on an Oakland train platform in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2009.

Mehserle, who is white, contended that he mistakenly used his firearm instead of an electric Taser weapon when he shot Grant, who is black. But prosecutors argued at his trial that Mehserle meant to reach for his handgun as he tried to handcuff an unresisting Grant, who was lying face-down on the platform floor.

At an early afternoon briefing, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums said it is important "that we look to the family to determine whether the standard of justice has been met" because they have lost the most and that it was clear that Grant’s family felt "disappointment," "great pain" and "extraordinary hurt."

"One can draw from that that the test of justice in their mind's eye was not met," Dellums said. "I want you to know that I as a human being understand that. I understand the anger. I understand the pain. I understand the hurt. I understand the disappointment. One cannot live here for nearly 75 years as I have and not understand that."

While promising that residents will be able to protest and voice their anger and disappointment, Dellums said "it is my legitimate hope that that is not destructive to ourselves, it is not destructive to our community."

Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts would not enumerate at the afternoon briefing the size of the police presence, but he did say that his department is fully deployed and ready for whatever unrest might occur.

At 2:30 p.m., about 175 protesters had gathered at City Hall and had a previous permit; at that point, there had been no incidents of violence. Batts said officers plan to "surgically remove" vandals from the crowds of protesters and that plainclothes police will be videotaping the crowds all afternoon to help in arresting and charging anyone who commits a crime.

"We have numbers of police officers deployed in many places where they are not visible," he said. "We have plenty of resources.... We will do everything we possibly can to make sure that the city is not damaged and that we do this in an orderly fashion."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/11/oakland-officials-ready-for-any-unrest-after-sentencing-of-former-bart-officer-in-fatal-shooting-of-.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+lanowblog+(L.A.+Now)

Edited November 5, 2010 by ##########

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

[updated at 4:45 p.m.: At a 4:30 p.m. briefing at the city’s Office of Emergency Services, Batts said officers had identified more than a dozen people in the crowd Friday who were involved in "dysfunctional illegal activity" in July during rioting after Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

Law enforcement agents from around the region were visible downtown, he said, talking to demonstrators and "urging them to participate in a very peaceful way."

Asked about calls for violence during the Grant protest at City Hall, Batts said, "if those are voices of people who don’t live here, I hope the people who do live here drown them out."

The crowd had grown to about 250, he said, and remained peaceful.

At the pro-Grant demonstration in front of Oakland City Hall, protesters were angry and tearful but not surprised by what they viewed as Mehserle's light sentence.

"The first word that comes to mind is just heartbreaking," said Kanika Ajanaku, 65, as she wiped her eyes. "Over the course of 400 plus years that people of African descent have been in the Western Hemisphere, we have never been able to get justice."

Grant’s death at Mehserle’s hand "reminds me of Abner Louima at the hands of the NYPD, and the lynchings of hundreds," she said. "There’s no justice for us in this society. I don’t know how much more of this society expects us to endure."

Wesley Burton, 32, was watching news coverage of the demonstration from his home near City Hall when he decided to come out and see it for himself. Burton, who works for a marketing company, derided Perry’s decision.

"It wasn’t much of a sentence, I don’t believe," Burton said. "He’ll do a few more weeks, a couple of months more, and then go on with his life.... I guess there's some progress. Fifteen years ago, without the technology, there wouldn’t even have been a trial."]

[DEDixon 39]

2 years more than he should have received.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Sentence Protesters March Through Oakland Streets

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A group of protesters that had gathered outside Oakland's City Hall to protest the two-year prison sentence handed down to former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle marched through the streets of the city Friday night as they monitored by authorities.

The group was estimated at about 200 people and marched over to the area of Laney College at East 10th Street and 2nd Avenue before being stopped by a line of Oakland police in riot gear.

Smaller groups then began to break off, cutting through Peralta Park, thinning the main protest.

Police and business owners were bracing for possible chaos as darkness fell over Oakland following former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle's two-year prison sentence Friday.

"Two years is not enough. It's a step forward. But it's not enough," said Talia Jefferson, an attorney with www.iamoscargrant.org, which is a website voicing beliefs about unnecessary police brutality.

"We will continue to build and to organize until the state understands that we will not lie down silently as they murder the people in cold blood," attorney Ann Weills said on the website.

Protests on the evening of the conviction started peacefully, but there was looting and vandalism later that night. At least 78 people were arrested in connection to the protests.

About 75 volunteers attended Friday's rally to help keep the peace, but only 20 felt brave enough to wear bright orange vests that represented what they were doing, one of the peacekeepers said.

"The verdict was so horrendous some don't want to put on the vests. They are afraid people don't want to keep the peace," said Rev. Mutima Imani, a member of Faces of East Bay, a group that provides peacekeeper training in Oakland.

"As a peacekeeper, it's hard to ask people to make peace when there is so much injustice," she said.

Demonstrations at the rally included slam poets, singers, and speakers expressing heartfelt words.

"I'm not surprised at what happened," said Sherri Moore, an Oakland resident. "We're not supposed to fear people, and we're not supposed to hate each other."

Rasheedah Sabreen, a singer at the event, said, "I moved from Philadelphia to get away from one of the most corrupt police forces. I didn't know I was jumping from the frying pan into the fire."

Earlier in the day at a press conference, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums said he understood the community's angry reactions to Mehserle's prison sentence for fatally shooting Oscar Grant III at the Fruitvale BART station in 2009, but he called for nonviolent protest.

No incidents had been reported by this afternoon, but many shops closed early and boarded up their properties.

One bar at 510 17th St. had several windows boarded up and posters saying: "Be Cool. Mehserle lost his cool. Let's not repeat his mistake." Another sign read: "Violence is not justice."

Next door, also at 510 17th St., at the Center for Elder Independence, employees were boarding up the windows.

Oakland police Chief Anthony Batts said there is no particular time when they are going to breathe easy about the situation. The majority of problems happen after dark, so that's what officers are waiting for, he said.

Police Friday have recognized people who caused problems at the protests in July. Officers are going up to them and telling them they hope they remain peaceful.

"We have identified them, and we are keeping an eye on them," Batts said.

He said many uniformed and plainclothes officers are being deployed throughout the city to monitor protests and any possible violence or other illegal activity.

"It is quiet, and hopefully we stay that way," he said.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/25652402/detail.html

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Protesters Being Arrested After Officers Stop March

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Police arrested several protesters who marched through the streets of Oakland Friday night in reaction to the two-year prison sentence handed down to former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle earlier that day.

The group, estimated at about 200 people, had gathered outside Oakland's City Hall to protest the sentencing and as evening fell, began marching through the streets of the city Friday night as they monitored by authorities.

The protesters marched over to the area of Laney College at East 10th Street and 2nd Avenue before being stopped by a line of Oakland police in riot gear.

Smaller groups then began to break off, cutting through Peralta Park, thereby thinning the main protest.

After the marchers split, an officer was reportedly hit by a car near 7th Ave. and East 18th St. The officer's condition was unknown.

Officers in riot gear met up with the group again at the 1700 block of East 17th St. around 7:20 p.m. and informed the marchers that they must disperse -- they were holding an illegal assembly. At around 7:40 p.m., officers began arresting protesters, who put up little resistance.

During this time, reinforcements moved into downtown Oakland and stationed themselves around businesses.

Police and business owners were bracing for possible chaos as darkness fell over Oakland following former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle's two-year prison sentence Friday.

"Two years is not enough. It's a step forward. But it's not enough," said Talia Jefferson, an attorney with www.iamoscargrant.org, which is a website voicing beliefs about unnecessary police brutality.

"We will continue to build and to organize until the state understands that we will not lie down silently as they murder the people in cold blood," attorney Ann Weills said on the website.

Protests on the evening of the conviction started peacefully, but there was looting and vandalism later that night. At least 78 people were arrested in connection to the protests.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/25652402/detail.html

At 10:00 PM/PDT one protester was still left, peaceably holding a picket sign, near the live feed for the Ten O'Clock local news.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Pretty much what I predicted and pretty much what he deserved. Everyone keeps saying "If I had accidently shot someone I would have gotten more!" The problem with that logic is they wouldn't have done it on the job and been put in that situation.