Protests erupted shortly after a young man killed by a subway police officer was laid to rest in Oakland on Wednesday night, according to local media and iReporters. The Oakland Police Department made 105 arrests, including a mass arrest of about 80 people at 11 p.m., said Officer Jeff Thomason. The charges include inciting a riot, vandalism, assault on a police officer and unlawful assembly, he said. One officer was injured, but not seriously, Thomason said.
Footage from CNN affiliate KTVU-TV showed demonstrators rampaging through the streets of Oakland, California, protesting the death of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old father who was killed on New Year's Day in a crowded train station. Some protesters lay on their stomachs, saying they were showing solidarity with Grant, who was shot in the back as he was face-down on the floor at a train station.
Several witnesses caught the incident on camera, and there have been numerous demonstrations this week. The protests turned violent Wednesday night after Grant's funeral and following an announcement by authorities that Officer Johannes Mehserle, who is implicated in the shooting, had turned in his resignation. Videos from witnesses show Mehserle shoot Grant in the back as another Bay Area Rapid Transit officer kneels on Grant. A BART spokesman has said there is more to the story than what can be seen on the grainy images.
Oakland police tried to keep protesters at bay Wednesday night as they smashed car windshields and storefront windows. KTVU footage shows one protester jumping up and down on a police car hood, while another demonstrator pushes a flaming Dumpster up against it.
"We live a life of fear, and we want them to be afraid tonight," an unnamed female protester said....
...Well, congratulations! Mission accomplished!
Of course, a person with, you know, functioning brain cells might consider the utility of having heavily armed people afraid of you, especially when they've already amply demonstrated that they don't always think before using their weapons. That they don't always make sure that the weapons they're using are the ones they allegedly intend to use. That they are ready to use their weapons against you entirely without provocation or justification.
By LINDSAY WISE and MIKE TOLSON and JENNIFER LATSON
Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Jan. 6, 2009, 11:48AM
Robbie Tolan will likely live the rest of his life with a bullet lodged in his liver. It's a painful reminder of his encounter last Wednesday with a white Bellaire police officer, who fired at least three shots at the unarmed 23-year-old black man in his own driveway.
Bellaire police and city officials have said Sgt. Jeff Cotton mistakenly thought Tolan's Nissan Xterra had been stolen, but Tolan's relatives say he was a victim of racial profiling and did nothing to justify being shot as his parents watched outside their home. Tolan remained in Ben Taub General Hospital's intensive care unit Monday while his family left his bedside briefly to attend a Bellaire City Council meeting where they hoped officials would offer an apology. They came away unsatisfied, their attorneys said. Officials offered prayers for a speedy recovery, but little more....
[...] Officials still haven't provided a detailed explanation of what Tolan did to arouse officers' suspicion in the first place and how Cotton came to believe he was driving a stolen vehicle. Bellaire police also have declined to explain why Cotton believed his life was in danger when he fired at Tolan, who was unarmed. That's why it's crucial for the District Attorney's Office to conduct its own vigorous probe, Berg said. Newly sworn-in DA Pat Lykos has assured the Tolan family that her office will do just that, he said.
The shooting took place about 2 a.m. on Wednesday, shortly after Robbie Tolan and his cousin Anthony Cooper returned from a nearby Jack-In-The-Box and pulled into the driveway of the Tolans' home in the 800 block of Woodstock. According to a statement later released by Bellaire police, officers approached Tolan and Cooper under the mistaken belief that their 2004 Nissan Xterra had been stolen. Police said an argument broke out as the officers tried to detain and question the two men, but family members said both Tolan and Cooper complied after officers ordered them, at gunpoint, to drop to the ground. Drawn by the commotion, Tolan's parents came outside. His mother, Marian Tolan, told police she was the homeowner and that her son's car wasn't stolen, said Berg, the family's attorney. He said Sgt. Cotton grabbed the 55-year-old woman and threw her against her garage door. When her son rose slightly from the ground to protest, Cotton fired, striking him once in the abdomen, Berg said. At least two other shots missed and somehow wound up in the ceiling of the home's front porch....
Ah. Dawn of a new day. Obama's America. Looks ... remarkably like it did before, really.
Posted by iain at January 08, 2009 07:28 PM
