Posted on 01/07/2009 7:41:07 PM PST by SmithL
OAKLAND -- A protest over the fatal shooting by a BART police officer of an unarmed man mushroomed into a violent confrontation Wednesday evening, with a faction of protesters smashing a police car and blocking streets in downtown Oakland.
The protest started peacefully shortly after 3 p.m. at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland, where BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle shot 22-year-old Oscar Grant of Hayward to death early New Year's Day. BART shut down the station well into the evening commute, although the demonstration there was peaceful.]
However, shortly after nightfall, a group of roughly 200 protesters split off and head toward downtown Oakland, prompting the transit agency to close the Lake Merritt station.
Oakland Police Officer Michael Cardoza parked his car across the intersection of Eighth and Madison streets, to prevent traffic from flowing toward Broadway and into the protest. But he told The Chronicle that a group of 30 to 40 protesters quickly surrounded his car and started smashing it with bottles and rocks.
Cardoza jumped out of the car and said some protesters tried to set the car on fire, while others jumped on top of the hood - incidents repeatedly shown on television. Cardoza said the protesters "were trying to entice us into doing something."
A group of protesters also set a trash bin aflame, moving it adjacent to the police car.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Oakland? Let me guess. Baptists?
Oakland — when Philadelphia is too boring.
>> Baptists?
Nah. ObamaNation.
“Nah. ObamaNation.”
Nah, ObamaAmish!
Well it did look like the cop did kill the guy execution style in front of witnesses and cameras.I can understand the crowds anger. The victim was black but notice some of the protesters are white.
Man, kops be trippin, po-leece beatin’ up un us...pazz da mutha....in joint dawg!
Community organizers.
One thing to note is that the MSM dug up the officer’s name, despite the pleas from the investigators. Public’s right to know, ya know. He and his family are now in hiding, from the mobs agitated by a notorious Oakland shyster.
Gee, don’t you think that officer should be held accountable? As far as I care his name should be published like any other common criminal and he is worse, he did what he did under color of law.
The videos are up on FR. I had to watch several times to be sure I was seeing correctly.
It looked like two cops were arresting the kid, got him off the wall he was sitting against, got him on the floor face-down and were in the process of cuffing him. One had the kids neck, one was straddling his back, looked like they were in control. A third officer walked over, reached for his handgun, drew, aimed, and fired.
I’m not the rioting type but I’d sure like to know what happened, besides my view of blurry cellphone videos.
The people are reacting to those videos and no doubt some inflammatory talk from community leaders.
Gee, I said that? Oh, no, you did!
You said.....Public’s right to know, ya know. He and his family are now in hiding, from the mobs agitated by a notorious Oakland shyster.............Sounds like you think his name should be kept secret just because he’s a cop. I hope he gets covicted and put in GP.
There needs to be some explanation or rationalization, at least, for why the officer appeared to take careful aim at a man who was on the ground and did not appear to be moving or otherwise restrained and shot him. Did the officer see that the man was thinking about hurting the officer?
MSM and amateurs posting cellphone videos...............if it was not for the media who probably would not be so involved if it wasn’t for the video, how else would we know about this murder. If it was just the cops word without the video he more than likely would go scott free.I am damn sick and tired of LEO’s getting away with this crap. A badge does not give one the right to violate someones civil rights. And that kids civil right was definately violated.
Hmmm. I doubt very much the cops or the investigators could have covered it up - too many witnesses, with or without cellphone videos. But as I pointed out on another thread, the circus is just starting.The dude is dead, what really happened then we’ll never know, in my opinion. Watching it in the printed media (I haven’t and won’t watch the videos) I see how the witnesses, that is to say the dead man’s pals, have started to change the stories, once the media and the crooked shyster became involved. As for the MSM, they seek to sensationalize anything they touch, and their idea of “public’s right to know” is arrogant and self serving, that’s all. They don’t represent me, or anyone!
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