Binside TV

EX-BART POLICE OFFICER JOHANNES MEHSERLE ARRESTED CHARGED WITH MURDER OF OSCAR GRANT

The ex-Bart police officer, Johannes Mehserle, was arrested after the execution style shooting of unarmed black man Oscar Grant on New Years Eve. The cop resigned from his job and fled California to avoid the criminal consequences of the public shooting on a train platform.

(Watch Graphic Video of Oscar Grant Shooting Warning Contains Death of Shooting Victim Viewer Discretion Advised)

The former transit police officer accused of shooting an unarmed man at a California train station went to Nevada with his family "to clear his mind" after receiving death threats, his lawyer said Wednesday.

The lawyer's comments came after Johannes Mehserle was arrested on a fugitive warrant in Nevada.

Leads led investigators to Johannes Mehserle, 27, in Zephyr Cove, Nevada, on Tuesday, authorities said. He was contacted through his attorney and then surrendered.

"He was always prepared to surrender himself in the case," Christopher Miller, attorney for Johannes Mehserle said.

Mehserle waived extradition, and police officers were transporting him back to California on Wednesday.

Miller said his client may face arraignment as early as Thursday morning.

The lawyer spoke of Mehserle, 27, as "a fine officer with an excellent work history" adding "this case is not just about a video." Miller was referring to a cell phone video that captured the shooting. source

A FORMER police officer has been charged with murder after an unarmed man was shot dead on the San Francisco subway.

Johannes Mehserle, a former Bay Area Rapid Transit agency police officer, was arrested this week at a home near Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

He is being held over the New Year's Day shooting death of Oscar Grant, who was lying on the ground after being pulled off a San Francisco area train by police investigating reports of fighting.

Mr Mehserle resigned from the rapid transit unit on January 7, hours before a protest in Oakland turned violent and resulted in more than 100 arrests.

Mr Mehserle is white and Mr Grant was black.

The shooting was recorded by passengers using mobile phones and the video has been widely circulated on the internet and TV.

Alameda County district attorney Tom Orloff said Mr Mehserle was charged with murder because evidence showed Mr Grant was the victim of an intentional killing.

Mr Grant's family is suing the rapid transit unit for $US25 million ($38 million).

A lawyer representing the family praised authorities for arresting Mr Mehserle and called it "a very first step" of what was expected to be a long process. source

OAKLAND RIOTS TURN VIOLENT AFTER POLICE OFFICER SHOOTING OF UNARMED BLACK MAN OSCAR GRANT

Metro (BART) Riots - Oakland, California Coverage

Protests erupted on the streets of Oakland Wednesday night after a young man killed by a subway police officer was laid to rest, CNN reported. Twenty two-year-old Oscar Grant was shot and killed on New Year's Day in a crowded BART train station by 27-year-old Officer Johannes Mehserle. Mehserle is accused of shooting Grant while he was lying face-down on the station platform. Grant's death prompted demonstrators to take to the streets Wednesday night, and more than 100 people were arrested by police, according to KCBS-TV. Officer Mehserle reportedly resigned from his post, which has hampered the police department's internal investigation because he can no longer be compelled to provide a statement to the department's investigators, KCBS reported. Some protesters carried signs reading "Jail Killer Cops," while others (including some shown in the YouTube video below) angrily confronted Mayor Ron Dellums. Some demonstrators chanted "No justice, no peace, f*** the police!" and "Pigs go home!"source Read more...

(Warning, explicit content: the videos below shows a man being shot to death).

New video tape of the Bart subway shooting

An Oakland Bart Police officer kicked off the New Year with the murder of Oscar Grant. The unarmed 22 year-old Black man was shot in the back while being restrained on the ground in a subway station. The tragic execution style murder was caught on tape by a citizen journalists and aired on a television news station. Warning the video is graphic viewer discretion is advised.

POLICE SHOOTING AT BART STATION - OSCAR GRANT (TRAIN ANGLE 2)

The BART police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man early New Year's Day in Oakland could have done it intentionally or by dire mistake, and a key factor is whether the officer was armed with a Taser that day, an attorney representing the dead man's family said Tuesday.

The officer, identified as Johannes Mehserle in a wrongful death claim, is seen on several recently released cell phone videos of the Fruitvale station incident standing over Oscar Grant III, at which point the officer appears to draw his gun from its holster on his right hip and point it at Grant, who is facedown on the station floor. Within moments a gunshot is heard and, in a video released Monday night, the officer looks up and down twice, then briefly touches his face with his hand.

Many online viewers of the video have posted comments speculating the officer may have thought he was reaching for a Taser when he grabbed his gun, suggesting he meant only to stun Grant, a 22-year-old Hayward man.

"In the case I'm involved in, it doesn't matter if he was reaching for a Taser or not," said civil rights attorney John Burris, who is representing Grant's family in a $25 million wrongful death claim filed Tuesday against BART and Mehserle. "At the end of the day, it's what he did that counts." source

Related articles by Zemanta

• Oakland Turns Violent Over Shooting

OAKLAND BART POLICE OFFICER SHOOTS & KILLS UNARMED YOUNG BLACK MAN OSCAR GRANT MURDER CAUGHT ON TAPE

(Warning, explicit content: the videos below shows a man being shot to death).

New video tape of the Bart subway shooting

An Oakland Bart Police officer kicked off the New Year with the murder of Oscar Grant. The unarmed 22 year-old Black man was shot in the back while being restrained on the ground in a subway station. The tragic execution style murder was caught on tape by a citizen journalists and aired on a television news station. Warning the video is graphic viewer discretion is advised.

POLICE SHOOTING AT BART STATION - OSCAR GRANT (TRAIN ANGLE 2)

The BART police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man early New Year's Day in Oakland could have done it intentionally or by dire mistake, and a key factor is whether the officer was armed with a Taser that day, an attorney representing the dead man's family said Tuesday.

The officer, identified as Johannes Mehserle in a wrongful death claim, is seen on several recently released cell phone videos of the Fruitvale station incident standing over Oscar Grant III, at which point the officer appears to draw his gun from its holster on his right hip and point it at Grant, who is facedown on the station floor. Within moments a gunshot is heard and, in a video released Monday night, the officer looks up and down twice, then briefly touches his face with his hand.

Many online viewers of the video have posted comments speculating the officer may have thought he was reaching for a Taser when he grabbed his gun, suggesting he meant only to stun Grant, a 22-year-old Hayward man.

"In the case I'm involved in, it doesn't matter if he was reaching for a Taser or not," said civil rights attorney John Burris, who is representing Grant's family in a $25 million wrongful death claim filed Tuesday against BART and Mehserle. "At the end of the day, it's what he did that counts." source

BART shooting

The family of Oscar Grant III has hired noted attorney John Burris who held a press conference to announce plans to file a $25 million dollar claim against BART in the shooting death of Grant on New Year's Day. Our condolences go out to the family of Oscar Grant who must deal with the loss of a loving son and young father who has now become an unfortunated statistic like Sean Bell. Oscar Grant's family has filed a wrongful death claim and is suing for $25 million dollars.

Happy New Year ... I love you," the message sent at 12:49 a.m.  Thursday.

Johnson never received a response.

"I wondered why he didn't text me back, and then I found out why,"  Johnson said.

Oscar Grant III, the best man at Johnson's wedding and known to  his family as being a loving father, a hard worker and a sports enthusiast,  was fatally shot by a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer at Oakland's  Fruitvale station about an hour after his uncle sent him the text message on  New Year's Day.

BART officers responded to the station to reports of a fight on a  train around 2 a.m. The train Grant was on stopped at the station to let the  officers break up the supposed brawl.

BART Police Chief Gary Gee released a statement today that said,  "On behalf of the BART Police Department and the entire BART organization, we  want to express our condolences to the family of Oscar Grant. I want to  assure Mr. Grant's family and the public that we are taking this  investigation very seriously."

Mario Pangelina, who is the brother of Grant's daughter's mother  and was riding on the same train but two cars behind, said, "There was so  much commotion."

Pangelina and other witnesses said Grant was begging not to get  Tasered because he had a 4-year-old daughter.

"He was not acting hostile," Pangelina said.

Other witnesses said Grant presented no threat to anyone and was  lying on his stomach on the station's platform with his back to the officers  when he was shot.

Then a bullet entered Grant's back and ricocheted to his lung  area, killing him almost immediately, according to John Burris, an Oakland  civil rights attorney who was hired by Grant's family to investigate the  death.

"He was not doing anything of a threatening nature to the  officer," Burris said.

Gee said in the statement, "As frustrating as it is, I want to  stress that we cannot and will not jeopardize this case by discussing details  before the investigation is complete."

He also stated, "This case is not even four days old - we are in  the early stages of the investigation and will do a thorough job." source

Related articles by Zemanta

• Video of California police shooting spurs investigation
• The Raw Story | Video: Calif. cop shoots apparently helpless man in the back
• "Citizen videos" spread online showing BART police officer shooting unarmed man to death