Officer Accused of Oscar Grant Shooting Resigns; Council Mandates NYPD Report of Race in Police Shootings

Jonathan Adams

Officer Accused of Oscar Grant Shooting Resigns; Council Mandates NYPD Report of Race in Police Shootings

Council: NYPD to Report on Race in Police Shootings
“The New York City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to require the Police Department to file annual reports about the use of deadly force by officers, including the race, gender and age of the people who were shot.” New York Times.

BART Officer Resigns After Shooting
“The officer involved in a New Year’s Day shooting that left a passenger dead in a crowded Oakland, California, subway station resigned Wednesday, a Bay Area Rapid Transit spokesman said.” CNN.

Vigilante Group Charged in Anti-Obama Attacks
Armed with a police-style baton and a metal pipe, three white men formed a vigilante group on election night to find Black people to assault in retaliation for Obama’s win. New York Times.

Trapped In Ramallah: A Young American’s Perspective
“A young Palestinian-American woman living in Ramallah, six miles north of Jerusalem and about 70 miles north of Gaza, shares her fears and perspective on the Israeli attacks.” Huffington Post.

Posted at 8:13 AM, Jan 08, 2009 in News | Permalink | View Comments

Comments

Were it not for the Oscar Grant video recordings taken by the public this would have been another police blotter story. The cops made all attempts to confiscate any and all recording devices so as to manage not only the news and information but also the spin. So at the end of the day the Press would only have one story: BART's and that of angry and pissed off riders who just happen to be mostly people of color. BART would have spent the rest of the week burying the news and while not burying the news editing it to fit it's own spin. The police has drawn a solid blue wall to guard and protect it's own and with the office of the DA it hopes that spin will prevail over the rule of law and reason.

If you are going to get busted by the cops you better have several reliable witnesses carrying video recorders that have not be confiscated by the cops.

jack_snyder25@yahoo.com

People might consider calling/writing BART Board President Tom Blalock.

* Tel (510) 490-7565
* E-mail tom.blalock@infolane.com

This info is from his website at www.infolane.com/blalock/contact.html.

I think it's important not to let this murder be defined as "one bad apple." While responsibility for police investigation may ultimately go to the Oakland Police, BART is responsible for the training and actions of it's officers (and I suspect that one way BART will be forced to take responsibility will be a civil payout in the tens of millions) and for the way it delayed questioning the murderer for an entire week, until it was too late. The officer has just resigned, sidestepping the responsibility to respond to a BART investigation. At the moment of this writing, the investigation of the murder is still being lead by BART police.