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Oscar Grant Family Press Conference After Mehserle Hearing in Los Angeles, 1/8/10: photos
After the first hearing of Johannes Mehserle's trial for the murder of Oscar Grant III in Los Angeles, family members and their private attorney gathered for a short press conference in front of cameras and microphones assembled earlier in the morning for the LA Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant press conference.
Pictured above is family attorney John Burris, who is pursuing a $50 million civil action against BART and officers on the Fruitvale platform when Oscar Grant was murdered on New Year's Day 2009. In BART's last official statement on the civil suit, BART blamed Oscar Grant for having been shot in the back by Johannes Mehserle.
BART's PR machine plays both sides, good cop and bad cop, as it defends itself from the ire of community activists and the three civil suits filed to date. On the one hand, BART firmly attacks anyone who dares challenge them, even making petty moves such as denying the family a sound system and stage for the January 1st one-year anniversary vigil at Fruitvale BART; and, on the other hand, giving press conferences intended to feign community support it does not have or giving the family flowers on the same stage for which BART refused to pay. BART is also unafraid to lie to the public when it supports the false story that they are committed to real reform.
In short, BART has done nothing when it comes to real substantive actions such as holding any officers or their supervisors accountable for the abuse of Oscar Grant and his friends on January 1st, 2009, and the ensuing cover-up attempts, instead preferring to make symbolic gestures of sympathy or action in front of the cameras.
LA Coalition for Justice Rises Up at First LA Mehserle Hearing, 1/8/09: photos and video
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/01/10/18634889.php
LA Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant Press Conference, 1/8/09: photos and full audio
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/01/11/18634912.php
January 12th: Demand Strong Civilian Oversight at Assembly Hearing on BART Police Oversight - http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/12/22/18633424.php
State Capital Building
Room 126
Sacramento, CA
BART's PR machine plays both sides, good cop and bad cop, as it defends itself from the ire of community activists and the three civil suits filed to date. On the one hand, BART firmly attacks anyone who dares challenge them, even making petty moves such as denying the family a sound system and stage for the January 1st one-year anniversary vigil at Fruitvale BART; and, on the other hand, giving press conferences intended to feign community support it does not have or giving the family flowers on the same stage for which BART refused to pay. BART is also unafraid to lie to the public when it supports the false story that they are committed to real reform.
In short, BART has done nothing when it comes to real substantive actions such as holding any officers or their supervisors accountable for the abuse of Oscar Grant and his friends on January 1st, 2009, and the ensuing cover-up attempts, instead preferring to make symbolic gestures of sympathy or action in front of the cameras.
LA Coalition for Justice Rises Up at First LA Mehserle Hearing, 1/8/09: photos and video
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/01/10/18634889.php
LA Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant Press Conference, 1/8/09: photos and full audio
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/01/11/18634912.php
January 12th: Demand Strong Civilian Oversight at Assembly Hearing on BART Police Oversight - http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/12/22/18633424.php
State Capital Building
Room 126
Sacramento, CA
For more information:
http://indybay.org/oscargrant
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Oscar's murder was not just a headline. It is a chance for us all to wake up, and say no more.
as I wrote here: http://lightenupmyworld.wordpress.com/2009/01/11/words-that-change-the-world/
and asked the question.....
What did you lose, when Oscar Grant was shot?
.
.
You decide.
.
memorial
.
it just is
It just is........... a terrible cluster of mistakes
It just is........... another example of racism, police brutality, etc
It just is........... another symptom of a horrible system
It just is........... something terrible, tragic, outrageous
It just is........... the consequences of such and such
It just is........... something that happened far away from my concerns
It just is........... the way life is, etc, etc, etc.
.
If you stop there
if you stop
at "It just is........"
and turn away,
you give your unwitting support
to whatever you think
it just is.
You, are just-(is)-ifying the status quo
and helping nail it into place.
.
This terrible loss has happened to people I do not know, in a place I will most likely never be in. But like millions of people around the world it has affected me and caused me grief. What can a compassionate person do with this grief? I say, whatever you can to change the way things are.
.
illuminates-darkness
I choose to honor the life of Oscar Grant and grieve with his family for it's loss.
I choose to honor the life of Oscar Grant enough to be outraged at how it was lost.
I choose to honor the memory of Oscar Grant enough to add this grief to that which I already feel from the devaluation of life everywhere on this planet.
I chose to add it as more fuel to my efforts to change this world as fast as I possibly can so events like these disappear like the nightmare that they are.
.
"It just is......" an opportunity,
for you to change the world too,
by allowing yourself to be moved,
past the blockages of what is,
the status quo,
to what could be.........
as I wrote here: http://lightenupmyworld.wordpress.com/2009/01/11/words-that-change-the-world/
and asked the question.....
What did you lose, when Oscar Grant was shot?
.
.
You decide.
.
memorial
.
it just is
It just is........... a terrible cluster of mistakes
It just is........... another example of racism, police brutality, etc
It just is........... another symptom of a horrible system
It just is........... something terrible, tragic, outrageous
It just is........... the consequences of such and such
It just is........... something that happened far away from my concerns
It just is........... the way life is, etc, etc, etc.
.
If you stop there
if you stop
at "It just is........"
and turn away,
you give your unwitting support
to whatever you think
it just is.
You, are just-(is)-ifying the status quo
and helping nail it into place.
.
This terrible loss has happened to people I do not know, in a place I will most likely never be in. But like millions of people around the world it has affected me and caused me grief. What can a compassionate person do with this grief? I say, whatever you can to change the way things are.
.
illuminates-darkness
I choose to honor the life of Oscar Grant and grieve with his family for it's loss.
I choose to honor the life of Oscar Grant enough to be outraged at how it was lost.
I choose to honor the memory of Oscar Grant enough to add this grief to that which I already feel from the devaluation of life everywhere on this planet.
I chose to add it as more fuel to my efforts to change this world as fast as I possibly can so events like these disappear like the nightmare that they are.
.
"It just is......" an opportunity,
for you to change the world too,
by allowing yourself to be moved,
past the blockages of what is,
the status quo,
to what could be.........
For more information:
http://lightenupmyworld.wordpress.com
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