Shooting death of BART rider by police on New Year’s leads to federal lawsuit.
San Francisco, CA (JusticeNewsFlash.com)–On New Year’s Day, a BART transit agency officer shot and killed 22 year-old, unarmed Oscar Grant while he was detained face down on the Fruitvale Station platform in Oakland, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. The video footage taken by other passengers, of the seemingly unprovoked police assassination of the young BART rider, shocked consumers across the country and led to a mass riot in Oakland.
The lawyer for the Grant family filed the civil rights violations lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Oakland and named BART transit officer Johannes Mehserle, The 27 year-old BART officer, Mehserle, fired the fatal shot into Grant’s back. The family also filed against several other defendants citing their negligence in the wrongful death of young Grant. BART Officer Tony Pirone, Officer Maysol Domenici, Police Chief Gary Gee, and BART transit agency are among those listed in the civil litigation demanding $50 million in damages.
The legal team for the grieving family claim racial slurs were directed toward Grant, who was an African American. Mehserle quit the force on January 7 and has been charged criminally with the murder of Oscar Grant. Merserle’s criminal defense attorney claims the officer thought he was firing his Taser when he fired the single gun shot which killed Oscar Grant.
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