A Call For Restraint in Oakland
For the past couple of weeks now, former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle has been on trial in Los Angeles for the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant on January 1, 2009. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, there was serious rioting in Oakland and a sympathy protest in San Francisco. With chants of "We are all Oscar Grant", the protesters finally got Alameda County to prosecute Mehserle for first-degree murder.
The testimony phase of the trial is now over and closing arguments are set to begin tomorrow morning. It is expected that the jury will begin deliberations sometime tomorrow afternoon after receiving instructions from the judge to consider second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, or involuntary manslaughter. A verdict could be announced as early as Friday.
Because of this, considering the protests that developed in the aftermath of the shooting, Oakland police are preparing for major protests and possible riots after the verdict is read. There is already talk about a protest beginning at Oakland Civic Center at 6:00 p.m. on the night that the verdict is read.
The Shadow would like to appeal for calm. There is no reason to destroy property, set fire, and cause mayhem in Oakland after the verdict is read. The Shadow would hope that, whatever the verdict is, that all demonstrations are peaceful.
We will follow the process from the time that the jury receives the case and begins deliberations. You can follow us on Twitter, as we will be monitoring news reports all day Thursday.
Again, let us have calm as this process continues.
Good night and good luck.
The testimony phase of the trial is now over and closing arguments are set to begin tomorrow morning. It is expected that the jury will begin deliberations sometime tomorrow afternoon after receiving instructions from the judge to consider second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, or involuntary manslaughter. A verdict could be announced as early as Friday.
Because of this, considering the protests that developed in the aftermath of the shooting, Oakland police are preparing for major protests and possible riots after the verdict is read. There is already talk about a protest beginning at Oakland Civic Center at 6:00 p.m. on the night that the verdict is read.
The Shadow would like to appeal for calm. There is no reason to destroy property, set fire, and cause mayhem in Oakland after the verdict is read. The Shadow would hope that, whatever the verdict is, that all demonstrations are peaceful.
We will follow the process from the time that the jury receives the case and begins deliberations. You can follow us on Twitter, as we will be monitoring news reports all day Thursday.
Again, let us have calm as this process continues.
Good night and good luck.
posted by The Shadow at 10:03 PM
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