The headline caught my eye and it was with total disgust that I began to read the following: Prosecution says white policeman deliberately shot black victim. My very first thought was bullshit…oh for sure, beyond a horrible event, the killing of Oscar J. Grant, 22 years old on New Years Day 2009. Former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle (the bay area rapid transit has its own police force to police the BART system), 28 years old was charged with murder. The scenario could not be worse for all involved.
But murder? This young officer had been on for less than two years and it would appear that he shot this kid by sheer accident. He says he thought he had reached for his taser and was shocked when it turned out to be his gun. Bad training? Poor supervision? 100% for sure. Murder? Bullshit. Now had it not been for Oscar J. Grants bad behavior, could it be that these two would never have met? Was Oscar just minding his own business when he began this very short relationship with the police? I think not. I have vivid memories of riding that very same route and at times holding my breath as the train would stop at certain stops through Oakland. Why you ask? Simple, some of those stops depending on the time of day are a nightmare! And the only reason I rode that train was the hope that a BART police officer would be someplace close by. However, to hedge my bet, as a member of law enforcement I carried a .357 magnum, and I felt safe. Always concerned, but safe.
For anyone or any group that would believe former officer Mehserle set out to murder this kid in front of dozens of witnesses and other officers you’d have to have bad logic and even worse fantasies. And the cry for justice is nothing more than a cry for revenge. You know it always amazes me how total pukes can be made into “patron saints” of the ghetto. Did this poor young man ever have any previous negative contact with the police? If he did will that come into play in the wishful thinking and planning of the crucifixion of this former young officer who resigned the following day? Another interesting thing is this, the trial had to be moved to Los Angeles for fear of riots in Oakland…no that is not the reason, it was due to finding a jury pool that had not been “tainted” in the Bay Area. Now, what will happen if this former cop is found not guilty? It is reported that there are no blacks on the jury. I hope that if the verdict is “not guilty” that it is not on a Friday and the moon is not full that night (old cop stuff).
Wanda Johnson, Oscar J. Grant’s mom was outside the courthouse, our hope is that this does not continue to happen to the brown and black races. We could all hope that these two races brown and black,” figure out that bad behavior will sometimes attract the police, not all the time but sometimes…when the criminal element of any color is performing, I wish the police could bump up their averages as to being present more often. And we could all hope that people of any race aren’t accidentally killed by a poorly trained officer of any race.