Video of San Francisco BART police officer appearing to execute suspect who is lying on the ground

[WhipperSnapper]

I haven't see this posted yet and I did a search for "BART" and "Mehserle", so if it's a repost please just lock or delete the thread. I read P&N all the time and only just now learned about this.

On New Year's day of this year (last week) a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit--the subway) police office has been videotaped in what looks like an outright execution of a criminal suspect. The defense appears to be that he thought he had his taser gun and not the pistol. 2-minute long video here:

http://carlosmiller.com/2009/0...view-so-far-and-audio/

The family has filed a $25 million lawsuit against BART and a protest march turned into a riot. What's amazing is that so far the officer hasn't been arrested and is living freely while various police agencies and the district attorney's office investigates.

Give me a break! If I killed someone with a gun and then said that I thought I had grabbed my taser instead (which seems much more likely for an untrained civilian who isn't firing at someone laying on the ground while in the company of other police officers) I would be immediately hauled off to jail and made to sit in a darkened room for hours and hours answering questions. In the meantime, this guy is still on the loose?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J...rle#Protests_and_riots
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/...9/01/06/BAHH154IV9.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/...9/01/06/BAK61540MH.DTL

 

[bananapeel42]

holy shit, what a video to catch. that shows clearly the murder (manslaughter maybe).

Honestly, if you look at the guys face after he shot him he looked stunned at what happend like he honestly didn't mean to.

Hard to truly say.

 

[bamacre]

Are you fucking kidding me? They shot that guy dead?

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: bananapeel42
holy shit, what a video to catch. that shows clearly the murder (manslaughter maybe).

Honestly, if you look at the guys face after he shot him he looked stunned at what happend like he honestly didn't mean to.

Hard to truly say.

Why does he even take his gun out?

 

[alien42]

i guess AT P&N is so wrapped up in the ME and politics that the riots in Oakland due to this shooting were completely missed. over 100 people were in police custody.

 

[Craig234]

FYI, this is a major story here in the bay area. It does appear to capture a clear unjustified killing.

The outrage is large, there are ongoing demonstrations, and some of them have vandalized many stores near the BART heaquarters in Oakland.

Over a week after the shooting, BART has still not interviewed the officer involved, who has resigned, and the state legislature is drafting legislation to create civilian oversight.

One thing for people to consider here - if there had not been videos, what the likely outcome of this had been?

So don't wonder why we like to have strong investigation measures, to protect both sides in these incidents.

The fact that I think that in over 90% of similar situations the victim would likely have done something to cause the shooting doesn't change the need for justice in the rest.

 

[babylon5]

Authority abuses their power -- whether it's cops on street or securities at airport.

So much for Homeland Security.

 

[rudder]

I can't beleive they have not detained the police officer. If a tire popped on an airliner I was controlling during take off.. I would have been hauled in given a breathalyzer, piss test, hair sample and whatever else.

My theory is that the cop was inebriated to a degree. New Years... stuck policing a subway system. How else to you mistake a pistol for a taser. It is not like it was a life threatening situation. A few drunk kids perhaps with plenty of backup around... there have been worse scenarios for police to be in. Now will we never know since anything in his system would be gone from a week ago.

THis shit happens in Tennessee fairly regularly. Just recently a sheriffs deputy ran over and killed a girl. A liquor bottle was found on the scene. There was virtually no investigation. Cops will look out for one another.

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: babylon5
Authority abuses their power -- whether it's cops on street or securities at airport.

So much for Homeland Security.

You are assuming he meant to shoot/kill him. I'm sure that is not the case.


He needs to be in prison for a long, long time though.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: bamacre

Originally posted by: bananapeel42
holy shit, what a video to catch. that shows clearly the murder (manslaughter maybe).

Honestly, if you look at the guys face after he shot him he looked stunned at what happend like he honestly didn't mean to.

Hard to truly say.

Why does he even take his gun out?

I have heard he thought it was the stun gun and not the pistol. I would think anybody about use that kind of force would at least verfiy what they are about to shoot.

If he pulled his gun just to pull it. Why? I can understand a stun gun if they truely cant get him to cooperate. But a gun is pointless unless you plan to shoot him.

 

[jpeyton]

Lock this cop up.

If we're lucky, an inmate will shiv him in the first 48 hours.

Expect EPIC riots if this guy doesn't to go prison for a while. Oakland is like a powder keg, ready to pop.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: bamacre
Are you fucking kidding me? They shot that guy dead?

Not instantly, he died 7 hours later at the hospital. The shot that proved fatal was a ricochet off the concrete that reentered his body and punctured his lung. Still, does not make this incident less tragic.

From the wiki page concerning the riot after the incident:

After entering the Central Business District a splinter group of protestors ignited a garbage dumpster on fire outside of an apartment building at 10th and Oak Street.

a contingent of angry protesters surrounded a police car. The officer driving the car fled on foot. Meanwhile, the rioters broke out the cruiser's windows and attempted to overturn it,[18] and set a garbage dumpster on fire at the intersection.

In the ensuing hours, a small clutch[23] of rioters set trash cans, dumpsters, cars, and newspaper boxes on fire. Some jumped on parked cars and smashed car windows. Others broke storefront windows, to include those of a McDonalds at Jackson and 14th Streets in the Lakeside Apartments District.

the demonstrators continued through City Hall Plaza, with angry splinter groups of rioters smashing the windows of Oakland Police Department's Internal Affairs and Recruiting Office at the East side of 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza. Windows of police cruisers parked outside the offices were also smashed.

The protesters continued east along 17th Street, crossing Broadway and Franklin, where rioters broke several storefront windows, and continued back into the Lakeside District.

Police recovered two handguns from the rioters. Around 120 people in total were arrested for offenses arising from the protests during the course of the evening.

Significant riot, surprised that this story has not gotten more air time.

Although, I mainly just read the front-page of Reuters these days who seem to be content just covering the "Zionist aggression" against Gaza and the Indian business scandal.

I hope that proper justice will be given to the cop and the violent rioters.

We had an "incident" not far from here where a cop claimed that when he pulled a young man over that he shot himself in the head with a shotgun, they are still investigating to see if the cop was telling the truth or if he blew him away himself.

 

[WHAMPOM]

Originally posted by: Ocguy31

Originally posted by: babylon5
Authority abuses their power -- whether it's cops on street or securities at airport.

So much for Homeland Security.

You are assuming he meant to shoot/kill him. I'm sure that is not the case.


He needs to be in prison for a long, long time though.

Just taser people down and cuffed. :lips:I am sure you will excuse that as SOP.:lips:

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: WHAMPOM

Originally posted by: Ocguy31

Originally posted by: babylon5
Authority abuses their power -- whether it's cops on street or securities at airport.

So much for Homeland Security.

You are assuming he meant to shoot/kill him. I'm sure that is not the case.


He needs to be in prison for a long, long time though.

Just taser people down and cuffed. :lips:I am sure you will excuse that as SOP.:lips:

They cuffed him after he was shot from 1 report.

Even the most racist cop in the world wouldnt randomly shoot someone intentionally in front of a bunch of people. Im sure they would have plenty of opportunity to do it in a more secluded environment.

Either way, he needs to do some hard time for negligent homicide.

 

[marincounty]

Correction, he is not a "San Francisco Bart police officer". He is a Bart police officer, who may be from Napa, not sure. But he is not a San Francisco Bart officer.
San Francisco gets enough bad press already, this was OAKLAND where it occured.

 

[DealMonkey]

I wonder if this cop has ever pulled out his pistol instead of his dick when taking a piss? Seems likely . . .

 

[marincounty]

Two bay area lawmakers propose law creating oversight board for BART police.

Text
A pair of Bay Area lawmakers want to increase accountability and public oversight for BART police in the wake of an officer's fatal shooting of an unarmed man early on New Year's Day in Oakland.

State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, issued a joint statement Thursday announcing they'll introduce a bill "that will finally ensure an independent oversight body is established, public input is accepted, complaints and grievances are fairly considered, and responsible action is taken."

BART was created in 1957 as a result of state legislation, with governance granted to an elected board of directors, the two lawmakers note. But the board has not provided a proper mechanism for public input and comment on BART police policy, they say: "Unlike the San Francisco Police Commission, BART lacks any real means for the public to air their grievances regarding police conduct or for an independent body that can propose corrective actions."

"Complaints and grievances against BART police officers have been investigated and adjudicated internally without any independent review," the lawmakers wrote. "This is a classic case of the fox guarding the hen house."

BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle's fatal shooting of Oscar Grant III, of Hayward, in the Fruitvale BART station on New Year's Day ? witnessed by scores of passengers, and captured on cell-phone videos that have aired nationwide ? "is extremely tragic and disturbing," Yee and Ammiano said.

"Although all the evidence surrounding this case is not yet known, the video footage is beyond troubling."

This is a huge problem in America, the police have no oversight in many cases, and are allowed to investigate themselves. This is a recipe for disaster.

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: marincounty
Correction, he is not a "San Francisco Bart police officer". He is a Bart police officer, who may be from Napa, not sure. But he is not a San Francisco Bart officer.
San Francisco gets enough bad press already, this was OAKLAND where it occured.

BART is a regional (Bay Area Regional...) organization. I think the "San Francisco" was to identify the national region of the situation since not everyone knows "BART".

Even "Bay Area" can mean various bays around the nation, even if its most common use is for the 'San Francisco Bay Area'. The victim was apparently from my city of Hayward.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: bamacre

Originally posted by: bananapeel42
holy shit, what a video to catch. that shows clearly the murder (manslaughter maybe).

Honestly, if you look at the guys face after he shot him he looked stunned at what happend like he honestly didn't mean to.

Hard to truly say.

Why does he even take his gun out?

He should not have taken his gun out while on the ground struggling with someone - for his own safety. That makes it seem likely that he really did think he was holding a taser. His career should be over, and he should spend some time in jail. I think it was manslaughter though, not murder.

 

[Farang]

I almost wish these videos could have been held for a bit so we could have seen how effective internal investigations are. While I almost feel bad for the cop because it seems to be a mistake, I can't help but feeling like this would have been covered up had it not been for the tape.

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: Farang
I almost wish these videos could have been held for a bit so we could have seen how effective internal investigations are. While I almost feel bad for the cop because it seems to be a mistake, I can't help but feeling like this would have been covered up had it not been for the tape.

Exactly. I'll take out your 'almost' for my opinion. We get so few opportunities to measure the systems, since the stories quickly are formed around the known evidence.

Remember the killing of the young man in London? The police were unaware of the surveillance tape at the subway when they concocted and released the story about how he'd been wearing a suspicious heavy coat and supiciously ran and jumped over the tool booth justifyijng their hot pursuit and such on why they shot him - which was later all disproven by things such as the tape showing him calmly pay his toll and walk to the train wearing normal clothing, as I recall.

 

[alphatarget1]

Originally posted by: Craig234

The outrage is large, there are ongoing demonstrations, and some of them have vandalized many stores near the BART heaquarters in Oakland.

As a Bay Area native this is outrageous and the cop should be hauled off to jail.

However, vandalizing stores near the BART headquarters does nothing. The store owners didn't do anything remotely related to the killing.

 

[marincounty]

Originally posted by: alphatarget1

Originally posted by: Craig234

The outrage is large, there are ongoing demonstrations, and some of them have vandalized many stores near the BART heaquarters in Oakland.

As a Bay Area native this is outrageous and the cop should be hauled off to jail.

However, vandalizing stores near the BART headquarters does nothing. The store owners didn't do anything remotely related to the killing.

Similar to the Rodney King verdict, people burned their own neigborhoods down.
Why not drive out to Simi valley, where the trial was, and burn down their neighborhood?

I noticed fools on TV dancing on top of someone's car. Nice job trashing someone's car, who had nothing to do with this.

If you want to make a point, go trash a police station or a bart station.

 

[vhx]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/...7/BA2N155BAH.DTL&tsp=1

I guess this is an update from the original post, the guy resigned to avoid a police Internal Affairs investigation. Nice!

 

[fallout man]

Wow, he totally executed that guy.