Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Judi Lynn

(160,219 posts)
Fri May 3, 2019, 06:48 AM May 2019

Officer punched Oscar Grant and lied about facts in 2009 killing, records show

A recently unsealed file noted how transit officer Anthony Pirone ‘started a cascade of events that led to the shooting’ of the unarmed black man

Sam Levin in Oakland
@SamTLevin Email
Thu 2 May 2019 16.12 EDT

A police officer involved in the 2009 killing of Oscar Grant on an Oakland train platform repeatedly lied to investigators and had punched the unarmed 22-year-old without justification, according to newly released records.

The report on the New Year’s Eve killing, which sparked national police accountability protests, was disclosed this week following journalists’ requests under a new California police transparency law. The previously sealed internal file, written 10 years ago, documented how the Bay Area Rapid Transit (Bart) officer Anthony Pirone “started a cascade of events that ultimately led to the shooting”. Pirone called Grant the N-word while detaining him, hit him in the face in an “unprovoked” attack, and later gave a series of false statements contradicted by videos, investigators said.

The death of the young father was one of the first major US police brutality cases in which cellphone footage went viral, prompting widespread outrage years before the Black Lives Matter movement. The killing was later made famous by Ryan Coogler’s 2014 film Fruitvale Station, named after the site of the death.

The officer who shot Grant in the back, Johannes Mehserle, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in a rare criminal trial over a killing by law enforcement.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/02/officer-punched-oscar-grant-and-lied-about-facts-in-2009-killing-records-show

~ ~ ~

Oscar Grant: BART’s internal investigation reveals cops’ roles in fatal shooting
Johannes Mehserle had history of using force, records released under SB 1421 show



This image provided by the Los Angeles County Superior Court shows police at the scene where Oscar Grant was shot by former San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer, Johannes Mehserle on New Year’s Day 2009. Mehserle testified Friday June 25, 2010 that he mistakenly pulled out his pistol instead of a stun gun when he shot and killed an unarmed black man who was lying face down on an Oakland train platform.(Los Angeles County Superior Court)

By ERIN BALDASSARI | ebaldassari@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: May 1, 2019 at 12:00 pm | UPDATED: May 2, 2019 at 6:46 pm

OAKLAND — A newly released internal investigation from BART of the Oscar Grant shooting 10 years ago reveals a more complete picture of the traumatic night, describing an out-of-control cop whose actions escalated the situation, a history of aggression on the part of Grant’s shooter and a department unprepared to take command of the chaotic scene.

Officer Johannes Mehserle was later convicted of fatally shooting Grant, a 22-year-old Hayward man, as he lay belly-down on the Fruitvale station platform on New Year’s Day, 2009. Grant’s death — one of the first to be caught on cell phone cameras — sparked international outrage over police shootings, especially those involving unarmed black men at the hands of the white police officers, and ushered a new era of citizens demanding police accountability.

The internal investigation, obtained by this news organization under a public records request, was released under the state’s new police transparency law, SB 1421, which makes internal records about officers’ sexual misconduct, dishonesty and shootings available to the public.

The report, though heavily redacted, found BART’s police department mishandled nearly every step of its response, from the initial investigation of a reported fight on a train to the lack of supervision from commanding officers and their failure to interview witnesses immediately after the shooting. BART police had a culture of dismissing or not reporting use of force incidents prior to Grant’s shooting, the report found, and some officers lacked basic training in how and when to apply force.

More:
https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/05/01/oscar-grant-barts-internal-investigation-reveals-cops-roles-in-fatal-shooting/

~ ~ ~

Ex-BART cop said he was ‘fighting for my life’ with Oscar Grant before shooting; report says that was a lie
Matthias Gafni May 1, 2019 Updated: May 1, 2019 7:25 p.m.

A former BART police officer who pulled Oscar Grant from a train 10 years ago and ordered his arrest before a second officer fatally shot Grant in the back lied repeatedly to investigators, telling them he felt he was “fighting for my life” when in fact he was the aggressor in the notorious incident, according to a newly released report.

The report by the Meyers Nave law firm — which BART hired to run its internal investigation due to a loss of public faith in the agency — long ago prompted the firing of the officer, Anthony Pirone. But the report was released only this week under California’s new police transparency law, Senate Bill 1421.

It details how investigators concluded that Pirone played a role in Grant’s death at Fruitvale Station in Oakland on Jan. 1, 2009, then sought to cover it up. Pirone was not criminally charged. But former BART Officer Johannes Mehserle was — and he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after a jury accepted his explanation that he accidentally shot Grant while believing he was squeezing the trigger of his Taser.

. . .

They cited Pirone’s “repeated, unreasonable and unnecessary use of force,” his “manifest lack of veracity” and his use of the word “n—” while arguing with Grant in recommending the officer’s firing.

More:
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Ex-BART-cop-said-he-was-fighting-for-my-13812158.php

~ ~ ~





Oscar Brown with his daughter.

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Editorials & Other Articles»Officer punched Oscar Gra...