BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant
A screenshot of Grant pinned down as police try to handcuff him, right after the shooting; this was captured from one of the videos that recorded the police incident
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| Time | 2:15 a.m. PST (10:15 UTC) |
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| Date | January 1, 2009 |
| Location | Oakland, California, United States |
| Deaths | Oscar Grant |
| Accused | Johannes Mehserle |
| Convicted | Johannes Mehserle |
| Charges | Second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter and gun enhancement |
| Convictions | Involuntary manslaughter (jury's guilty verdict of gun enhancement charge overturned by the trial judge) |
| Litigation | $50 million (originally $25 million) lawsuit by John Burris against BART on behalf of Grant's mother and daughter was settled for $2.8 million; Grant's father's lawsuit was denied |
Oscar Grant III (1986–2009) was a young African-American man who was fatally shot in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2009 by BART Police officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland, California, United States. Responding to reports of a fight on a crowded Bay Area Rapid Transit train returning from San Francisco, BART Police officers detained Grant and several other passengers on the platform at the Fruitvale BART Station. Officer Johannes Mehserle and another officer had restrained Grant, forcing him to lie face down. Mehserle was unable to remove Grant's right arm from under his body in order to handcuff him. Mehserle drew his pistol and shot Grant once in the back. He later claimed that he had intended to use a Taser on him. Grant was unarmed. He was pronounced dead the next morning at Highland Hospital in Oakland. The events were captured on multiple official and private digital video and privately owned cell phone cameras. Owners disseminated their footage to media outlets and to various websites, where it was watched millions of times. Both peaceful and violent protests took place in the days following.
The shooting has been variously classified as an involuntary manslaughter and a summary execution. On January 30, 2010, Alameda County prosecutors charged Mehserle with murder for the shooting. He resigned his position, and pleaded not guilty. The trial began on June 10, 2010. On July 8, 2010, Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and not guilty of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter.
Though initial protests that day against the ruling were peacefully organized, after dark there were incidents of looting, arson, destruction of property, and small riots. Nearly 80 people were eventually arrested. On July 9, 2010, the U.S. Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation against Mehserle. The federal government can prosecute independently for the same act under the separate sovereigns exception to double jeopardy. No charges have been filed to date. On November 5, 2010, Mehserle was sentenced to two years, minus time served. He served his time in the Los Angeles County Jail protective custody, held in a private cell for his safety. On June 13, 2011, Mehserle was released under parole after serving 11 months.
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