"zing") to mention the cops and the victims race.... what the hell
difference does it make ???
On Nov 6, 11:22 am, nominal9 <nomin...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> probation after thirty days... with time served and good behavior....
> or something like that...
>
> http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/06/national/main7029257.shtml
> CBS/AP) Police arrested 152 protesters who streamed through the
> streets Friday - some breaking windows and knocking down fences -
> after a white ex-transit officer received the minimum two-year prison
> sentence for fatally shooting an unarmed black man on a California
> train platform.
>
> The case against defendant Johannes Mehserle has provoked racial
> unrest at every turn, and police in Oakland, the scene of the killing,
> were on alert for more problems following a sentence many thought was
> too light.
>
> "This is outrageous - This sentence of two years is outrageous," one
> protester told CBS Station KPIX. "For murder, for killing somebody!"
>
> A rally billed as a tribute to Oscar Grant turned into a march through
> the downtown area, where people broke car windows and two windows on a
> bus. After police in riot gear repeatedly blocked and outflanked them,
> several hundred protesters splintered into smaller groups and entered
> residential neighborhoods.
>
> Police helicopters hovered above, shining spotlights on the crowd.
>
> Oakland Police Gear up for Mehrserle Sentencing
> Oakland Police Arrest 83 After BART Shooting Verdict
> Oak. Mayor: "I Don't Want Anybody Killed"
>
> A group of about 100 protesters holding a banner reading "Justice for
> Oscar Grant" was hemmed in with officers on both sides of the street
> before police started making arrests around 8 p.m. Friday, saying the
> assembly was illegal.
>
> The action was taken, Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts said, after
> one officer had his gun taken from him in a fight and another officer
> was hit by a car and suffered what police described as a non-life-
> threatening injury. "It's one thing breaking windows; it's another
> thing taking a gun from an officer," the chief said.
>
> Police spokesman Jeff Thomason said officers checking the backpacks of
> several of those arrested found hammers, pepper spray, switchblades
> and anti-freeze.
>
> Mehserle's sentence, handed down in Los Angeles, also angered the
> victim's family and friends, who demanded a much harsher punishment.
>
> Wanda Johnson, Grant's mother, shouted, "Oh my!" when Superior Court
> Judge Robert Perry issued the two-year sentence. She burst out of the
> courtroom saying, "He got nothing! He got nothing!"
>
> Grant's uncle, Bobby Cephus Johnson, said outside court: "I do believe
> it's a racist criminal justice system."
>
> Still, he said the family was reacting calmly but added he could not
> comment for others.
>
> "I have no power over what people feel their matter of expression
> should be," he said.
>
> Some of the dozens of people who gathered outside Oakland City Hall
> for a tribute to victim Oscar Grant broke into tears when they learned
> of the judge's decision. Outside the Los Angeles courthouse, a small
> crowd that had earlier shouted "No justice, no peace" reacted
> relatively calmly to the sentence.
>
> Mehserle, 28, had faced a possible 14-year maximum term after being
> convicted of involuntary manslaughter. At the time of the shooting,
> Mehserle was a Bay Area Rapid Transit officer responding to a report
> of a fight.
>
> In making his decision during the highly charged, 3½-hour hearing,
> Perry threw out a gun enhancement that could have added as much as 10
> years in prison and said there was overwhelming evidence that it was
> an accidental shooting.
>
> Perry said race would not factor into his decision and although
> Mehserle had shown "tons of remorse" for killing Grant, he would have
> to account that a "young man needlessly died."
>
> "I did the best I could with this case," Perry told the courtroom. "My
> decisions today will not be well-received by many people. I'm sorry
> for that."
>
> Police said they were prepared in case there was a replay of the
> rioting in Oakland that followed the shooting on New Year's Day 2009.
>
> Mayor Ron Dellums said he understood the pain and disappointment
> sparked by the sentence.
>
> "It is still my hope that people will express their anger, will
> express their disappointment, their outrage, their pain in a manner
> that is nonviolent, in a manner that is not destructive to our
> community," he said at a news conference.
>
> Johnson family attorney John Burris acknowledged a small step was
> taken by the justice system in sentencing Mehserle to two years, but
> he said that was insufficient. Both Burris and Bobby Johnson noted
> that NFL star Michael Vick got a harsher sentence for running a dog-
> fighting ring.
>
> "What you take from that is that Oscar Grant's life was not worth very
> much," Burris said.
>
> He also targeted Perry's comments before sentencing that he was
> saddened by the polarization of the community over the shooting.
>
> "This case does nothing at all to heal, if that was ever any intent,"
> Burris said.
>
> Reaction to the case has drawn comparisons to the infamous 1991 Rodney
> King beating by Los Angeles police officers, which inflamed a racial
> divide and led to the disastrous 1992 riot when the officers were
> acquitted of brutality charges.
>
> Mehserle was convicted in July in the videotaped killing of Grant, 22,
> in Oakland. The case was moved to Los Angeles for trial.
>
> Perry had wide discretion when sentencing Mehserle. Prosecutors sought
> prison time while defense lawyers argued for probation. The judge gave
> Mehserle the minimum possible prison sentence.
>
> Defense attorney Michael Rains immediately filed an appeal with the
> court after the sentencing. After time already served and good
> behavior credits, Mehserle will likely serve an additional six to
> seven months based on California's sentencing guidelines, the lawyer
> said.
>
> Mehserle testified during the trial that he thought Grant had a weapon
> and decided to shock him with his stun gun but instead pulled his .40-
> caliber handgun. Grant was unarmed and face down when he was shot.
>
> Sentencing came after four relatives of Grant and his fiancee pleaded
> with Perry to send Mehserle to prison for 14 years.
>
> Wanda Johnson cried and struggled to give a victim impact statement.
> She said she regrets telling her son to take a BART train to San
> Francisco before the shooting.
>
> "I live every day of my life in pain," she said. "My son is not here
> because of a careless action."
>
> The family continues to maintain that it was murder when Mehserle shot
> Grant.
>
> Mehserle, shackled and wearing a jail jumpsuit, also stood before the
> judge before sentencing and apologized for the shooting, which he
> contended was accidental and not racially motivated.
>
> "I want to say how deeply sorry I am," Mehserle said. "Nothing I ever
> say or do will heal the wound. I will always be sorry for taking Mr.
> Grant from them."
>
> He cried during portions of his 10-minute statement and said he and
> his family have received numerous death threats and he's been "green-
> lighted" - a term in which other jail inmates have the go-ahead to
> kill someone.
>
> Earlier, the judge said he had received more than 1,000 letters urging
> a harsh sentence.
>
> Prosecutors had sought a second-degree murder conviction, saying
> Mehserle became angry at Grant for resisting arrest.
>
> However, jurors were given the choice of lesser charges, including
> voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. In reaching a decision on
> involuntary manslaughter, jurors found that Mehserle didn't mean to
> kill Grant, but his behavior was still so negligent that it was
> criminal.
>
> Involuntary manslaughter has a sentencing range of two to four years,
> while the gun allegation carries a term of three, four or 10 years.
>
> The judge rebuked prosecutors for arguing that Mehserle intentionally
> shot Grant, saying there wasn't any evidence to back up that
> allegation. Perry also said he believed the videos showed Grant
> resisted arrest and many people, including Mehserle's fellow officers
> and Grant's friends, contributed to the tragedy.
>
> "All of these people share some responsibility," Perry said.
>
> Early in the day, before the sentencing, there was a scuffle outside
> the Los Angeles courthouse that led to at least one arrest and an
> undercover officer being briefly handcuffed.
>
> Police Lt. John Romero said the undercover police officer was coming
> out of the building when a member of the crowd recognized him and the
> two had a verbal exchange. When it escalated to pushing and shoving
> among the crowd, sheriff's deputies who guard the building moved in.
--
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