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 Years 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 Cooglers 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
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Oscar Grant: BARTs 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 Years 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 Grants 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 Years Day, 2009. Grants 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 states 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 BARTs 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 Grants 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/
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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 Californias new police transparency law, Senate Bill 1421.
It details how investigators concluded that Pirone played a role in Grants 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 Pirones 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 officers firing.
More:
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Ex-BART-cop-said-he-was-fighting-for-my-13812158.php
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Oscar Brown with his daughter.