This iReport is part of an assignment:
Protests, anger in Oakland
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Posted January 15, 2009
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Rancho Cordova, California
Rancho Cordova, California
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Oscar Grant - Justice Delayed Justice Denied - Oakland Riots
Twenty-two year old Oscar Grant, employed father, viciously murdered by BART officer, Johannes Mehserle, as he lay face down on the ground, with two other officers holding him there, as the world watched, via video captured on a cell phone. Fellow officers, from other locations attempted to plant an excuse, for the murder, in the minds of the people, by citing the possibility that the officer involved thought he had pulled his Taser, but had mistakenly pulled his gun instead. My reality tells me, even in the confusion associated with the struggle, two officers held Grant down while Mehserle pulled his gun, knowing the difference in the feel of a gun and a Taser, he had to have known which one he had in his hand as he, fired the fatal shot into Grant's back. Several close-up frames of the video show Grant's hands behind his back at the time of the shooting. Whether Grant was actually handcuffed, at the time of the shooting, has not been confirmed by BART officials. Based on the fact that there were three officers, two holding Grant down with his hands behind his back, what difference would it make if he was handcuffed or not, he is still dead, shot in the back as he laid face down on the ground and the evidence has been presented via cell phone footage. Even though Mehserle resigned from his position, and has had to move twice since this incident, due to death threats he was receiving, he was free to carry on his life. The camera shows that at one point, it appears Mehserle had drawn his Taser and is standing over Grant as Grant pleads with police not to Taser him. So what did Mehserle do, put the Taser away, pull his gun and shoot; that diminishes the theory that he mistakenly pulled his gun instead of his Taser, yet even after the video, Mehserle was free to live his live for thirteen days. In the interim, Mayor Ron Dellums has asked for peace and an end to the violence that has erupted, during protests that have been held since this senseless shooting has occurred. Dellums has said that "establishing culpability will not bring back the life of Grant" however, how many black lives have to be lost before you revisit the laws involved, that erases police office culpability in the crimes of this nature, that happen with a frequency, all across America. Justice delayed is hate in the making. Justice delayed is what is occurring in states like Mississippi and Georgia where racist whites who killed in the days of the civil rights movement are just now being tried for the crimes they committed against blacks, these token trials, after these murders having been allowed to live out their lives as fee men. After the enslavement of a people, against their will, justice denied is what blacks go through on a daily basis, as they try to bounce back in a society that has denigrated them, for centuries, with racist attitudes, segregation, inequality and hate, denying them the same luxuries that are had by recent immigrants to this country. Justice denied is all, we as blacks, have experienced in this country since our forefathers and mothers were kidnapped from their homelands and delivered here to work the soil for someone else's profit. Justice denied is a perpetual state of being, for black Americas. Justice delayed is what happened in the 60s, in black neighborhoods all across America, as black people attempted to gain some footage in the communities they had formed since being set free, from the yoke that bound them for so many years. Justice denied is the reason Hamas is still finding the means to fire missiles across the policed borders that separates Gaza from Israel. Justice denied is what 99 percent of blacks go through, on these little jobs, working with racist people who have been forced, legally, to refrain from using the "n" word but still think in the "n" way and have found new ways to show, by actions, how they really feel about you, in your face. Justice denied is why, I went through what I went through in a state position that I held. It took thirteen days to arrest Mehserle for the vicious murder of Oscar Grant, even after witnessing the incident, via video taken with a cell phone, even after several close-up frames of the incident show Grant's hands behind his back yet, if someone had caught a black man engaged in the behavior the officers were engaged in, there would have been a BOLO out for his arrest in no time. Mehserle was arrested in Nevada on Tuesday in connection with the shooting. The 27-year-old was charged because the evidence indicates "an unlawful killing done by an intentional act" and that there was no evidence available yet that could "mitigate" that. It took thirteen days to determine what the video proved in a matter of minutes. They tearfully buried Oscar Grant on Wednesday, while community leaders were voicing outrage over the shooting and ensuing investigation. The leaders gathered outside the Alameda County courthouse in downtown Oakland and then crowded into the District Attorney's office demanding some legal action. Justice delayed, Justice denied, is all a black man has in America. And that's the way I see it!!!! For a candid view of the world as I see it, visit my other blogs at : http://anotherlook.today.com/ or http://politicsnamerica.today.com/
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