Local NAACP wants investigation in BART shooting
By: Will Reisman
Examiner Staff Writer
January 9, 2009
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| This undated family photo provided by the Law Offices of John Burris shows Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old transit rider who was shot and killed by BART police on New Year's Day. (AP) |
OAKLAND — The Oakland Police began an investigation into the death of Oscar Grant Thursday, the third Bay Area agency to look into what happened the night the unarmed 22-year-old black man was shot by a BART police officer.
Despite the confluence of investigations, the National Advancement for the Association of Colored People has called for scrutiny from state or federal investigator, saying that local inspectors cannot be trusted in the case that has taken on strong racial implications.
Grant was killed on New Year's Day by Johannes Mehserle, a second-year BART police officer who is white. Amateur videotape and eyewitness accounts revealed that the Grant, who was pulled off the train for allegedly participating in a fight, was shot in the back while lying facedown and handcuffed at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland.
The investigation by BART has drawn the ire of the public for its sluggish progress, notably the fact that the agency never interviewed Mehserle for his role in the killing.
The District Attorney is also investigating the case, and on Thursday said it would detail its findings in two weeks time.
The lack of developments is why officials with the local chapter of the NAACP say they are meeting with State Attorney General Jerry Brown Saturday.
"The whole week went by and there not a single communication from local authorities with the black community," said Amos Brown, president of the NAACP's San Francisco chapter. "We simply can't trust the local handling of this matter."
Brown said the NAACP wants the State Attorney General's Office and federal agencies like the FBI or the U.S. Marshall's service to investigate the case, particularly the role that race might have played in the killing.
"This is a blatant statement of racism," said Brown. "It's a statement against black people from a white BART police officer, who displayed such disrespect and contempt for the lives of black people."
The Grant family's lawyer, John Burris, said he would "absolutely" support state and federal investigations into the shooting, but added that the District Attorney's Office would have to wrap up its case before other departments could begin.
Christine Gasparac, spokeswoman for the State Attorney General's Office, said that Jerry Brown is looking forward to hearing the concerns of the NAACP, but that he could not make any commitments toward the case yet.
Joe Schadler, spokesman for San Francisco's FBI branch, said that the department is monitoring the case, but it would not investigate the killing unless the District Attorney's Office requested its help.
"Right now there are several different agencies working on this," said Schadler. "We would not want to jump in and muddy the waters."
The killing has ignited community protest in the Bay Area, resulting in several days of protest in Oakland, including a riot involving several hundred people on Wednesday night.
