Police clash with protesters after verdict in BART case

OAKLAND, Calif. — Dozens of people in downtown Oakland
clashed with police in riot gear late Thursday, throwing rocks and
bottles at officers, starting small fires in the street and breaking
into area businesses.

The demonstrators were angry that a Los Angeles County jury found former Bay Area Rapid Transit Officer Johannes Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter in a racially charged shooting instead of on a more severe second-degree murder charge.

The crowd had been largely peaceful in the hours after the verdict was announced. But trouble erupted about 8:30 p.m. when police declared an unlawful assembly and ordered the crowd to disperse. At one point several hundred people had gathered.

A demonstrator smashed the windshield of a California Highway Patrol cruiser. Looters stormed a Foot Locker sporting goods store near City Hall and broke windows at the Far East National Bank. A Rite-Aid pharmacy was spray-painted with graffiti, including the slogan, “You Can’t Shoot Us All.”

Oakland councilwomen Rebecca Kaplan and Jean Quan marched up Broadway arm-and-arm with other demonstrators in front of a large contingent of police.

“We’re very grateful for everyone who has spoken for justice peacefully,” Kaplan said.

“Some people have thrown things. That is not the
right way to react. I’m hoping they will not escalate. I’ve asked
police to behave accordingly.”

Shortly after 9 p.m., police herded much of the crowd around 17th Street.
One officer lobbed a flash-bang device into the street to disperse the
crowd after another officer was hit in the head with a bottle. By this
time, police far outnumbered protesters, and those arrested were
immediately hauled away.

Hours before, Oakland seemed to be heading off a repeat of the vandalism and violence that broke out after Mehserle shot Oscar Grant III to death on New Year’s Day
2009. Other than the protesters, downtown was mostly deserted as
workers from many businesses and offices cleared out before the verdict
was announced at 4 p.m.

At that point demonstrators were calm and orderly.

Tony Coleman, with the Oakland General Assembly for Justice for Oscar Grant, took to the small stage at 14th Street and Broadway
and derided the verdict: “We want some more justice,” he cried, urging
onlookers to gather next week to plan further action. “We ain’t
satisfied.”

A woman who introduced herself as Sister Jerry quoted Marcus Garvey and Fannie Lou Hamer and said she came to the demonstration and grabbed the microphone to
show her love for Grant’s family and her outrage at the system.

“I want to say to the youth, I want to say to our
people, that when I heard the verdict, I couldn’t contain myself,” she
called out. “But I got to do it, ’cause my children and grandchildren
are watching.”

Oscar Grant’s grandfather, Oscar Grant Sr., a 64-year-old veteran from Hayward, begged the demonstrators to “keep the peace and honor my grandson.”

“I know what went down today was wrong,” he said. “But please don’t tear up the Bay Area. We live here. In 1965, they tore up Watts in L.A. Watts is still tore down. I don’t want my home like that.”

A group of Unitarian Universalists — neatly dressed and older — waved signs that proclaimed they were “fighting racism.”

A woman sold copies of the Workers Vanguard and a
member of the Labor Black League for Social Defense held a placard that
promised, “Oscar Grant: killed in cold blood — we will not forget.”

George Holland Sr, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Oakland branch, was the rare voice in support of the verdict.

Standing in the crowd, surrounded by television
cameras, he said that, as a lawyer, “I recognize you can’t always get
what you want.

“I know what could have happened,” he continued.
“Not guilty would have been worse. I think (Mehserle) ought to go to
jail. But we got a verdict.”

In Los Angeles, a few dozen protesters gathered at a mostly peaceful rally at Leimert Park after the verdict.

Holding signs that proclaimed “Justice for Oscar Grant” and “Jail Killer Cops! Justice Now!” they gathered to hear speakers vent frustration about the case.

Stevie Merino, 22, of Long Beach,
an organizer with the ANSWER Coalition, a social justice organization,
said, “Involuntary manslaughter is basically just a slap on the wrist
(for the former transit officer), but it’s a slap in the face to Oscar Grant’s family, his daughter and his girlfriend.”

Some speakers drew parallels between the Grant case
and the Rodney King beating, venting frustration about racial profiling
and the lack of police response and media attention to violent crime in
South Los Angeles.

“Officer Mehserle — guilty, guilty!” the crowd chanted. “The whole damn system is — guilty, guilty.”

Not everyone at the park was outraged, however.

Nathaniel Cross, 67, of Los Angeles, said he was glad the officer wasn’t acquitted, but he said he didn’t believe the shooting was murder.

“I’m glad he didn’t walk, didn’t get off scot-free,”
he said. “The guy made a hell of a mistake and cost someone their life,
but it had to be a mistake.”

———

(c) 2010, Los Angeles Times.

Visit the Los Angeles Times on the Internet at http://www.latimes.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.