Blaming Oscar’s friends for his death is shameful & will not be tolerated (Opinion)

Coalition for Jus... Mon, 1 Feb at 12:51pm

Save the Date! 9am, Thursday, February 11th: Blaming Oscar’s friends for his death is shameful & will not be tolerated

Let BART know: Blaming Oscar’s friends for his death is shameful & will not be tolerated

Next BART Board Meeting
9am, Thursday, February 11th, 2010
344-20th Street, near Harrison, on the 2nd Floor

While publicly declaring how happy BART is with the January 27th, 2010, settlement for $1.5 million for taking Oscar Grant’s life, BART attorney Dale Allen also took the opportunity to announce that BART will "vigorously fight [Oscar’s friends’ lawsuits] based on their contributing actions to the tragic accident."

This settlement was the opening Oscar’s killers needed, to devalue Oscar’s life and launch a campaign to blame Oscar’s friends. To put the money part in perspective, Rodney King settled for $3.8 million for the cans of whoop-ass opened on him in 1991. The BART settlement, supposed to guarantee Tatiana’s future stability, isn’t even half what Rodney King got, and Mehserle’s criminal trial hasn’t even begun. Fortunately, Oscar’s mother and co-plaintiff in the $50 million lawsuit against BART refuses to settle.

Oscar’s friends’ CONTRIBUTING ACTIONS???

BART still hasn’t decided what to do about Officer Pirone calling Oscar a “Bitch Ass Nigg*#” while punching him down, or Officer Domenici’s sworn testimony that “if I have to go to lethal force, I will.”

Yet BART is certain that Oscar’s friends – who were handcuffed and/or sitting down and/or had their hands up, pleading and praying not to get shot – definitely did contribute to Oscar’s murder.

BART is obviously working closely with Mehserle’s defense, and when the trial starts the devil in the details will come to light. The same BART, Rains, and others crying crocodile tears today are going to use every racist stereotype in the book to paint Oscar and his friends as thugs, with worthless lives, who got what they deserved. And BART will walk away without making a single meaningful change to the police department.

This insanity will not be tolerated. Over a year later and BART’s manipulations are only making matters worse. Come to the next BART Board Meeting to expose their lies.

Next BART Board Meeting
9am, Thursday, February 11th
344-20th Street, near Harrison, on the 2nd Floor

About Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant
The Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant is a broad network of concerned community members who have come together to support the families of Oscar Grant and all the young people with him on the BART platform on New Years, 2009. Through a broad and powerful public education campaign on local, regional, national and international levels, New Year’s Movement for Justice strives to: - Provide all kinds of people with the information needed so that Johannes Mehserle is convicted for the murder of Oscar Grant, III - Build public support to ensure that Johannes Mehserle, all BART police officers, and all other officials involved in the murder and cover-up are held accountable for their actions - Provide much needed education to our communities about our legal rights, from the streets to the courtroom - Develop new leaders, strengthen organizations, and build the movement for justice for all, in the process Please join our Yahoo Group at address below for campaign updates, messages, and access to organizing materials. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newyearsmovement/
boadicaea commented Array ago

Thanks for posting this, Rachel.  I saw it first on Mesha Monge-Izarry's Yahoo group email.  Good information there.

There was some discussion of what could be another way to shuffle off responsibility from Mehserle.  It would go onto Chee, who's gone, or other officers but nobody would indict them for murder even though they evidently were asleep at the switch when contributing factors to Pirone's and Mehserle's behavior were building.

1) 'roid rage--many reports that the BARTs in blue were openly using.  Some of that stuff that happened on the platform sure sounds like it.

2) There were articles about the reported relationship between Mehserle and Pirone, too close for partners of any orientation because it interferes with decision-making etc.  I got links to a couple at SFGate.com but wonder of wonders--"that page does not exist." 

I guess that means it's gone although it never existed and geewhiz you musta copied the URL wrong even though it did get through to a page on SFGate.com that had the foresite to say "that article doesn't exist."  Which article, you ask?  Well, it must be around somewhere.