Man in Black

Johannes Mehserle found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting of Oscar Grant | abc7news.com

I remember this shooting of course from a few years back, and reading this in the news made me sick to my stomach. He's gonna do a handful of years for cold blooded murder. Shot the man who was laying on his stomach on the ground. No justice. If it was you or me we would get 25 to life.

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When I was arrested I was dressed in black.

The_Jester

you think he'll survive in there?

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In LOVING kindness,

The forum fool.

~1~

You honestly don't think he'll be doing any time in GP do you? He'll get shipped out of state to some cushy minimum security facility where no one knows who the fuck he is and the screws will be keeping their eye on him. Doin' his time with the white collars and perverts.

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Prophet Saddam

The jury made the right decision, imo.

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Man in Black

that's it Saddam? one sentence? in your opinion; why?

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When I was arrested I was dressed in black.

osirus2020

Shooting a man in the back yo. Shits all fucked up.

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

AlteredStateGrl

yeah, me too i suppose.

and yes, that's it. one sentence.

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*The sweetest kittens have the sharpest claws.*

stoneric

If he did what Man in BLack says he did, it's bullshit.

myxomatosis

Yeah I made a post about this in the random thread. Thought about making a thread but just didn't feel like it. Pretty fuckin' disheartening.

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oh sometimes the blues is just a passing bird
and why can't that always be
tossing aside from your birches crown
just enough dark to see
how you're the light over me

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blog deal (updated 12/22/11)

~1~

Yeah, let 'em steal a few TV's and sofas and they'll all go back to bein' complacent darkies for another 20 years or so.

I for one have been disappointed by the lack of national rioting, I could use a new set myself.




You have to look at the situation in a different light than most of us ever see, the heat of the moment, the crowd around, the feeling in the air as things go down. None of us could ever know what it would be like at that exact moment, that second in time...


It was a tragic, tragic accident, one that has taken one mans life and ruined countless others. Screaming for Mehserles head on a pike is only going to serve to divide the colors, whether it happens or not.

It wasn't a cold blooded execution, I'm thinkin' Mehserle didn't get out of bed that morning with the intent to shoot anyone. It was a tragic accident, the man will 'pay' for his crime and life will go on.

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stoneric

There are options between 1rst degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.

AlteredStateGrl

wat?!

not hardly, although it may have been projected that way. other than some pretty large groups of rather "peaceful" people, there was a good handful of random groups of dumbasses as it got dark...that did nothing more than they do in la after the lakers lose...or win.

i wouldn't call any of it a riot.

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*The sweetest kittens have the sharpest claws.*

AlteredStateGrl

the media instigated a lot of the "omg they're rioting" feel, making big deal out of things that weren't a huge deal considering. Oakland was ready though. SWAT, Police, Fire... ready for the worst, hoping for the best, getting ready for this weeks before hand.

don't get me wrong, there was looting...car windows were smashed, maybe a jewlery store or two robbed, small fires etc. it was like, over by midnight pretty much. no more arrests than any other large sort of protest. a bunch of crazies, fizzled out pretty quick from what i've gathered. i have friends/family in oakland.

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*The sweetest kittens have the sharpest claws.*

Galt

To truly appreciate law enforcement at its finest one should look to Baltimore (the city that bleeds, er..I meant reads - according to their park bench propaganda). An off duty city cop, with a blood alcohol level that would cinch him for a DUI, found it necessary to shoot an unarmed man (a Marine just back from the Mid-East fiasco) 13 times. Well he did miss once or twice so I guess he technically only shot the brother 11 times. The man's offense? Well it appears that he grabbed the ass of a woman in a night club and the occifer met him outside to take care of business. This was the douche bag's third drunk issue and second drunk shooting, but the last cat only caught one in the foot as he fled. For the record, the dude never saw so much as a suspension in the past and this time the rulers finally decided he'd gone just a might bit too far and charged him.

Don't it make ya feel all warm and fuzzy to know that the fuzz are out there taking whatever measures are necessary to protect us from the wanton ass grabbers of Amerika? I know I sleep better.

Man in Black

some of you are missing the point. a police officer is held to a higher standard, and with great responsibility comes great consequence. if anything he should be senteced even harsher because of the high standards he is held to. if it was you or I in the situation, we would be facing 25 to life.

I don't buy that tazer bullshit for one second. Took the man a year to apologize to the victims family. I do apologize for saying a few years ago, I guess it was more recent but it feels like it's been a while ago.

Anyhow to give a frame of reference..my old neighbor and my mother's friend, the woman was like a grandmother to me and helped raise me, she just got sentenced to 3 years for embezzlement. she is 67 years old. this officer took a mans life. who was lying on his stomach. I don't care how hard you try, in my opinion you can't justify it. cold blooded murder and embezzlement carrying the same punishment?

a voluntary manslaughter charge would at least be somewhat more fitting.


it's that kind of thinking that gets murdering cops off the hook everytime.

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When I was arrested I was dressed in black.

Prophet Saddam

I blame the horrible lack of Taser training for the BART officers - According to Mehserle's testimony, they had been issued less than a month before the shooting. Furthermore, the Tasers and holsters were handed off from officer to officer at the end of each shift. This meant that sometimes he would have the Taser on a cross-draw while at other times (including the night of the shooting), he would have the Taser on the same side as his service weapon.

There are two ways to look at what Mehserle did: either it was a cold-blooded, premeditated murder or a tragic accident.

stoneric

Why taser a man lying on his stomache? If cops weren't allowed to electrocute us, would he have reached for his revolver to shoot a man lying on his stomache?

~1~

Never assume a compliant suspect just because he is prone.


Also never assume a compliant suspect can't be combative in a second.





But I guess the question that would have made the rest moot, why these guys gotta be brawlin' on the train, causing enough ruckus to require a response by he cops?

Sure, people have guaranteed 'rights' in this country but I don't think you have the right to act a fool without repercussions, check yo'self, otherwise you may end up on the wrong side of a tragic accident.

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stoneric

I shouldn't have to worry about being on the wrong end of a tragic accident if I'm lying on my fucking stomache, no matter how much of a fool I was being. There is no need to taser or shoot me. Unless it's the old pre-emptive taser. We like pre-emptive shit in this country.