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Indybay Feature

SF: Demonstration Against Police Murder of Oscar Grant

Date:
Monday, January 12, 2009
Time:
5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Event Type:
Protest
Organizer/Author:
A. Camus
Location Details:
Civic Center BART station, downtown San Francisco.

Tonight, the streets of Oakland came alive.

This is bigger than Oakland, however. The relationship of the police officer and the civilian is perverse: an unelected authority who has the unencumbered power of life and death over a population.

Last month San Francisco saw a confrontational solidarity action against the police murder of a young man on the other side of the world, yet there has been nothing against the police murder of a young man on the other side of the bay.

There will be a demonstration against the police murder of Oscar Grant on Monday, January 12 at 5pm at the Civic Center BART station.

The kids in Oakland know how to party. Let's show them they are not alone.
Added to the calendar on Thu, Jan 8, 2009 3:26AM

Comments (Hide Comments)
by (A)
and


tell every one you know make this huge!!!
SAN FRANCISCO NEEDS TO COME TO OAKLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!


Title: Meeting Organize MLK Day March for Justice for Oscar Grant
START DATE: Sunday January 11
TIME: 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Location Details:
Uhuru House, 7911 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland
Event Type: Other
The International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement calls on the people to come out to help organize the march on Monday, January 19th on the Martin Luther King Holiday for JUSTICE and REPARATIONS for the family of Oscar Grant III.

Unite with the following demands:

1. Jail and Prosecute Killer BART Cop Johannes Mehserle and Charge All BART Cops Involved With Accessory to the Crime of Murder
2. Reparations to the Family of Oscar Grant
3. Economic Development for the African and Oppressed Communities in Oakland
4. Immediate End to the Public Policy of Police Containment of the African and Oppressed Communities in Oakland
5. Immediate Release of All Arrested Demonstrators



http://www.uhurusolidarityoakland.blogspot...
by raymond (rsbuscemi [at] yahoo.com)
By 'knowing how to party' you mean attacking black owned businesses? screaming misogynist slurs at black women? setting fire to cars owned by black men? harrassing asians in the street? is this what you mean? really? this is how you propose demonstrating against the murder of an unarmed man by BART police?
by For One Movement
I hope everyone who possibly can will attend the Oakland rally and March assembling 4pm Frank Ogawa plaza , 14th and Broadway .
Marching to the Bart Adm. offices at 4-30 pm . Let's make this huge with hopefully no useless sideshows that will help the Powers to be change the narrative .
Today Jan. 12 there will be a BART Board of Directors meeting (with extensive public comment ) 1-30 to ? Kaiser Center 344 20th Oakland
by Mr. SpinDryer
It was tragic this man was shot. But the protest last week, where cars were vandalized, actually turned more people off than on. Same with the Gaza protests and Think Pink's actions. If street protest anger more people and move those people to the opposite of your cause, is the protest even worth. Don't tell me about the need for Action, blind action with no goals seem to have the opposite affect in today's society. This is not the sixties anymore. Protesting needs to be thoughtful, planed out, and completely non-violent and completely non-disruptive. Just my two cents.
by Kai MacTane
The streets of Oakland "came alive"? Funny, everyone from Oscar Grant's family on down to the residents and business owners whose homes, cars, and livelihoods were trashed feel that the streets came pretty close to being deadly.

Nia Sykes told the SF Chronicle that one community member "should be glad she just lost her business and not her life". Is that what you mean when you say the "kids in Oakland know how to party"?

That's not a party. That's violent, brutal anarchy that destroys the very communities in whose names it pathetically pretends to act. I don't want a "party" like that in San Francisco. Hell, I didn't want it in Oakland.

You want a peaceful protest? You want to point out that violence is wrong, by having a protest with no violence? Cool! I support you 100%. But this event listing says nothing about peace, nothing about the power of righteousness and rightful action. Instead, it's practically an incitement to riot.

And I have no sympathy for it at all.
by Bay Resident
This was a terrible mistake on the part of the police officer, but was accidental manslaughter, not murder. Oscar Grant not only had a previous record, but had just been involved in an altercation on the BART train, which is why the train was stopped, and the police were there in the first case. This was not a murder of an innocent. It's terrible, and it shouldn't have happened, but it wasn't a murder.
by r u serious???
U gotta be fucking kidding me....did u or did u not see that man with his hands behind his back on the floor with at least 3 officers around him...accidental manslaughter my ass, that shit was first degree murder. If the justification behind your ignorant comment is simply because there is hearsay about his difficult past and about his previous record and I am sure you have no idea what it is, you then, are truly as ignorant as your stupid ass comment. What the fuck is ACCIDENTAL MANSLAUGHTER??? Please define it by your standards!!! This well trained Bart Police Office, got up in a fully upright position, pulled out his gun, took off the safety, aimed and fired. What part of that is ACCIDENTAL, or MANSLAUGHTER. If that had happened to your child or your brother or your father i wish you would say "oh well it was accidental manslaughter you dumbass!
by Better Educated
Technically, at this point, it was a homicide. A murder requires intent and possibly forethought. But since the killing was very likely illegal, it's manslaughter, possibly negligent or reckless manslaughter. I don't think the officer meant to kill Oscar Grant. If Grant hadn't been standing and struggling, immediately previous to being shot, things might be different. You'll notice the people actually remaining seated to either side of Grant didn't get shot.
by common terry
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/09/MNC3155VI6.DTL
'...
Leemu Tokpa and several family members stayed overnight at Creative African Braids on 14th Street, the hair salon Tokpa started four years ago. Protesters smashed the store windows Wednesday night.

"I understand they were mad because a black man was killed, but I'm a black lady. If they're protesting, why would they come into the store?" Tokpa said Thursday morning.

Asked what she would tell the protesters, she said, "They're stupid."
...'

Random store smashing is stupid. More people would agree if descent involved dancing and parties instead. (Good time happy parties with communication and compassion. Not a riot. We dont have time for riots and burning anymore. Earth is very sick).
by not so well educated
Ha! The first-year law student who defined this murder as manslaughter should really be hitting the books right now instead of trolling on websites - this wasn't reckless or negligent conduct, the cop pulled the trigger of his gun and shot the poor kid directly in his back while he was subdued. At least in California, that's murder my friend.
by not assuming
Determining the homicide was manslaughter doesn't make it legal. In the video, the officer immediately makes an "oh my god" gesture, after shooting Oscar, with his hands in the air. That doesn't look like "intent to kill". He shouldn't have drawn his gun, and he shouldn't have had his finger on the trigger, but do you really think that the officer <b>wanted</b> to kill Oscar? That he truly had "malice aforethought"? I don't think that was the case.

None of that makes it right, excuses the officer, or means he shouldn't or won't see jail time. And of course, none of this brings Oscar back. But then, neither will smashing cars and storefronts.
by alex
From the incendiary remarks that have been published by many on this site, I'm not confident that many of the protesters are capable of having a peaceful march. What happened to the poor young man on who lost his life was inexcusable, however I doubt that the officer intentionally shot and killed him. Whether I'm right or wrong here is irrelevant. No one wants to see this happen ever again, but we can't afford to tarnish the reputation of peaceful activists of the bay area with another destructive march. Don't protest. Let the justice system address this situation. Be patient. If justice is not served, reassess and move forward.
by drew
Alex, you're missing the point - this whole thing has demonstrated that justice doesn't always get served, and it's time to stand up to what happened to Mr. Grant.

PROTEST!!!!!
by with alex
But how has it been shown justice won't be served? The initial investigation was just completed, and the results are with the DA. They haven't said what they're planning on doing.

What exactly is being protested? The killing? I don't think anyone is happy about that. So let's not start smashing things in SF.
by drew
@ by with Alex - the protest is happening in Oakland, not SF, so we'll be ok in SF. ;)
by disappointed
The kids in Oakland know how to party?!? You've got to be kidding me. Are we celebrating an excuse to riot, or trying to change shit?
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