Posted on 06/13/2011 8:24:55 PM PDT by SmithL
A class action lawsuit was filed against the Oakland Police Department and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office on Monday alleging that they violated the rights of 150 people who were arrested after former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle was sentenced last Nov. 5.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court only hours after Mesherle, 29, was released from the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail at about 12:30 a.m.
Mehserle shot and killed Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old Hayward man who was unarmed, after Mehserle and other officers responded to reports that there was a fight on a train.
Mehserle admitted in a highly publicized trial last year that he shot and killed Grant but claimed he had meant to use his Taser stun gun on Grant and fired his service gun by mistake.
Alameda County prosecutors sought to have Mehserle convicted of murder, but in a verdict on July 8 jurors only convicted him of the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.
On Nov. 5, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert Perry sentenced Mehserle to two years. Mehserle was released from custody Monday because he was given credit for time he served in jail before and after his conviction.
At a news conference at 14th Street and Broadway in downtown Oakland on Monday, Michael Flynn of the San Francisco chapter of the National Lawyers Guild alleged that Oakland police violated their crowd control policy by engaging in the mass arrest of 150 demonstrators at a protest the night of Nov. 5, after Mehserle was sentenced.
Flynn said officers surrounded the protesters, who were upset at the short sentence that Mehserle received, and refused to give them an opportunity to leave.
Rachel Lederman, another attorney with the guild, said Oakland police and Alameda County sheriff’s deputies detained the protesters for up to 28 hours and refused to let them use the bathroom or eat during much of that time.
None of the people arrested were charged with committing a crime, she said.
Lederman said the lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages for the protesters who were arrested, as well as an injunction that would force the Oakland Police Department to comply with its crowd control policies.
Oakland City Attorney spokesman Alex Katz said he can’t comment on the lawsuit because his office hasn’t seen it yet.
Alameda County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. J.D. Nelson couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court only hours after Mesherle, 29, was released from the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail
WOW! What a coincidence.
A communist organization. I do not mean that figuratively, either.
Maybe they and the police deserve each other.
All I can say is that if I carried both a pistol and a taser and used the pistol “by mistake” to shoot a fleeing or fallen person, I probably wouldn’t have gotten the benefit of the doubt.
What if you had the guy on the ground prone, hands behind his back (cuffed IIRC), and shot him in the back? Do you think your sentence would be higher?
I’d call that downright Mehser-able.
Just FYI, Mr. Grant was not handcuffed and did not have his hands behind his back. On the contrary, he insisted on keeping his hands in front of him, hidden from view, placed near the waistband of his pants. You may or may not think that matters, but we can at least keep the facts straight.
What if somebody they surrounded would have had a medical emergency? Could they go then? What if somebody deathly allergic to bees, was stung? Would they “have” to die because of police?
‘Hands in front of him’ and ‘hidden from view’ are contradictory.
Looking at the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOByfwT0734
It looks like he is on his side or prone with the knees of two transit cops on him. You can see his hands but I can’t tell if he is cuffed or not.
Again, cops can execute the citizenry and get their hands slapped because of the immunity they have as cops. This is happening over and over again. Just like the guy at Costco or the wood carver in Seattle and the guy who was murdered by the SWAT in Tucson. Those are just a small sample of what goes on in the criminal justice system.
As Americans lose their conscience and become police officers and members of SWAT teams we get cops who are behaving more and more like thugs and death squads from third world countries. They look at the citizenry as the enemy and treat them as such.
Then again America is rushing toward third world status in a hurry.
Actually, from what I have learned about Oscar Grant, I think he was a complete a scumbag and I am glad he is dead. I just diagree with the method, is all. Never again will he victimize an innocent person.
I’ll agree with you on that point.
In most states, a private citizen has a right to use deadly force in an attempt to arrest a fleeing felon; even more leeway than a cop.
Nope. Think hard. You’ll get it.
I had already thought about it, and I still don’t get it, unless it was meant to confuse somebody in order to make them do something stupid, so that they may then be punched or tased or sprayed, or possibly worse.
Nope. Think hard. You’ll get it.
That’s all I had. I don’t get it.
oops
sorry for the double post.
The situation was this: Grant had been seated, then for reasons no one understood at the time (or as far as I know, since) moved into a prone position with his hands beneath him. IE, on the front side of his body. Two BART officers try to get control of him, and one (Mahersle) tries, but is unable, to pull Grant’s arms out from underneath him, and behind his back.
Which is all I was trying to point out: Grant chose to move into a position to hid his hands, was uncoperative, combative. Draw what other concusions you will from that, but those facts were not disputed at trial, and can be seen on every video that I’ve seen that shows both the BART officers and grant.
I see now
The reason I point this out is to try to bring the light of reality into some of these Libertarian leaning LE threads, and also, point out that Mr. Grant caused the problem. Johannes Mahserle is guilty of being young, inexperienced, and poorly trained. He shouldn't have been prosecuted, and the efforts on the "right" to prevent society from protecting itself from the likes of Mr. Grant by setting the bar for police performance ever higher is clearly a much-needed assist to the left in their decades long project to turn the US into a third world country.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.