Oscar Grant
n an unsurprising move, Johannes Mehserle, the former BART cop,
plead not guilty to murder charges of Oscar Grant. I don't know what was going through Mehserle's mind and therefore I don't know whether he's guilty of murder, I do know he f-d up big time, and is guilty at the very least of manslaughter. While the videos are shocking, I don't know that they prove a charge of murder. Manslaughter, definitely. Stupidity, beyond the shadow of a doubt. But murder? We'll see. My biggest fear is that people won't be patient for the slow wheels of justice to turn. And we'll have more yahoos
vandalizing businesses, as if that will help do anything but sour people's opinions of Oakland even further. As Too $hort said:
"It would be so sad if this turned out to be violent," he said. "Let's do this one right - everyone is watching."
Indeed. Justice is needed. But so is patience. Let's do this one right.
Got here from ABetterOakland. Like what I see so far.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest fear is that if the jury returns anything less than murder (which as you point out is a big possibility) the recent riots will seem small compared to what will then happen. We all remember the Rodney King riots, and Rodney was not shot in the back while being held on the ground and died.
Agreed. Because the video evidence everyone has seen is so shocking and seems obvious, the backlash if Mehserle isn't found guilty of murder will be all the bigger.
ReplyDelete