Yesterday, the LA jury handed down the verdict in the murder case for former BART police officer, Johannes Mehserle.
I wish I could say that the verdict was just and that the people were satisfied; that when all was said and done, there was peace on the streets… alas, I cannot. Whether justice was served or not is a hotly debated topic. (One I am torn on myself because I was not there that day and I have not seen all the evidence.) However, the jury came to a decision and there is nothing anyone can do now.
Mehserle was found guilty, not of murder, but of the far lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter. The jury had three options other than not guilty: second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter. According to the evidence provided and the case presented, the jury deemed that Mehserle was guilty of criminal negligence, but not of outright murder. Mehserle is the first cop in the state of California to be convicted of a felony in an officer-related shooting that has resulted in the death of the suspect. Regardless of one’s feelings, this was HISTORIC.
Following the verdict, Mehserle was remanded into police custody, and now sits in an LA county jail awaiting his sentencing. It is now up to the judge to decide Mehserle’s fate. He will have quite a few options. The charge of involuntary manslaughter carries a possible sentence of 2-4 years in state prison; with the usage of a gun, up to ten extra years can be added to the sentence. However, the judge also can choose to issue Mehserle time-served and simply give him three years of felony probation. (For those who are not familiar with the criminal justice system: time-served is where the judge essentially gives you credit for the time you have spent in jail awaiting your verdict & sentencing, in place of actually serving the sentence after the trial is complete.) Most experts believe he will be doing at least 6-7 years in prison for this sentence, but it truly is anyone’s guess as it is purely in the judges hands now. [Sentencing will be held in LA on August 6th.]
Media coverage of this trial has reminded many of both the OJ Simpson trial and the Rodney King beating. Many of us hoped that no matter what the verdict was, the people would not resort to violence, as with the LA riots of 1992; sadly that was not to be. The verdict came down at 4:05PM PST yesterday and immediately the community was outraged. A large crowd began forming along Broadway in downtown Oakland between 12th and 14th streets; it began with maybe a hundred people. As the coverage continued, the crowd’s numbers grew. Things stayed pretty peaceful too, until the sunset that is…
I blame the media for stirring the crowd up to the point of an all-out riot; they turned a crowd of protesters into a mob. Yesterday, all of the local news channels bombarded us with imagery of the protesters; hours and hours of coverage, trial analysis, interviews of bystanders, speech after speech from community leaders and Grant’s family. If anything, they were enticing people to go out and join the mob. The media’s constant buzz helped fuel the anger, and the minute a window was busted at the Footlocker downtown, around 8:30PM, they were showing video footage, and glorifying the destruction. By 9PM the bulk of the disorderly conduct and violence was underway.
83 people were arrested for various charges ranging from disturbing the peace, resisting arrest, and vandalism. Fires were set and quite a few businesses were damaged, including Kaiser’s Regional Offices. Innocent Oakland business owner’s suffered at the hands of “anarchists” in the name of “justice”. Many of the businesses affected were minority-owned, (so much for fighting “white power”). Many of the individuals arrested were known “anarchists” who don’t even live in Oakland, they were merely there to stir up violence and mayhem.
So, what was the chaos truly for? JUSTICE?!?! I think not, and I am not alone. The people that came to downtown Oakland to cause destruction, didn’t care one bit about justice or injustice; they didn’t care about the very real racism that many African-American and Latino youth still face today. They certainly didn’t care about Oscar Grant or his family that has had to deal with 19 months of stress, waiting, wondering how their loved one’s killer would be held accountable.
If anything the rabble last night served to set us back. Why couldn’t we show the world that Oakland is above violence; that our community here in the East Bay could be mature and fight for our rights with peace…? Most of the world believes Oakland is a violent, hell-hole, full of nothing but thugs; anyone who has lived there or spends time there, knows this isn’t true. YES, there is violence, and yes, many areas are not the safest, but Oakland is still a wonderfully varied and beautiful city; with a rich and vibrant history. It isn’t the warzone it is made out to be.
This is a sign that we need to fight to make Oakland a safer place for everyone, especially the youth. We need to focus on taking East and West Oakland back from the gangs that have been allowed to rule for far too long now. The code of silence on the streets, needs to be broken. Vigilante “justice” needs to be stopped. Shooting after shooting… one young person after another, lost to senseless violence. So many families have had to suffer and the suffering will only continue, as long as we allow it to occur without repercussions. The only way to stop the violence is to break the silence and to stop the kinds of mobs that had power on the streets yesterday.
Yesterday could have been so much worse, for what it’s worth, I am thankful it wasn’t. Yet, it should not have happened at all. Nothing can change the fact that Mehserle pulled his gun that day. Nothing can bring Oscar Grant back from the dead. No one can change the verdict that the jury handed down in that packed LA courtroom… but we can fight for peace. We can fight for justice. Dr. King’s dream can be a reality, but not through the means of violence and destruction. It will never be a reality as long as we sit in apathy, allowing violence to occur before our eyes, and doing nothing to stop it.
Now is the time for action. Now is the time for peace.
Action through words and not violence.
Let’s do something for our future, today; let’s show that Oakland is so much more, than what people have seen on TV.
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