Bre Wade

English I

Mrs. Meyer

April 19, 2017

Oscar Grant III Murder Case

January 1, 2009, was a horrible start to the new year for the Grant family. This was the

day that Oscar Grant III was fatally shot at a gas station in San Francisco. Oscar and

his best friend Cadwell were at the gas station after a night of new year's celebration

when BART officers began taunting them with racial slurs and threats to taze Grant and

Cadwell. After fatally shooting at the young men the officers fled the scene. Described

as a tragic accident as stated in Oscar Grant Case reading Mehserle testified in both

trials that he intended to tase Grant III, not shoot him, but pulled the wrong weapon.

The officer who shot Grant claims he simply pulled the wrong weapon, but there's a

major difference in the feeling of a gun, which was pulled on the unarmed Oscar Grant,

and a taser, which Mehserle claims was the weapon he intended to pull. If he pulled the

wrong weapon, why continue to follow through with an unintended weapon. He claims

to pull the wrong weapon so he knew the situation didn't call for a gun but continued to

pursuit in the situation with this weapon. The officers committed the crime and fled the

scene, why run if you arent guilty? As the trial continues, Grant IIIs attorney, Waukeen

McCoy, provides evidence that Mehserle indeed intended to shoot Grant, as stated in

the article presented In the immediate aftermath, McCoy said, Mehserle told people

that he thought Grant III was going for a gun and he didn't say that it was an accidental
shooting. Mehserle is now changing his story, which leads the jury to question

Mehserles claims about the situation. Grant was unarmed so the thought of him going

for a gun shouldn't have been acted upon until the weapon was presented. Cadwell,

Grant IIIs best friend, who was present at the time of the scene also provided his story

of the situation in a video before his death. In the video Cadwell states that after Grant

was shot, Officer Domenici dragged him across platform, threatened him with a taser

pressed to his face, and then shoved him on a departing train. Cadwells video, which

was presented by his mother, was greatly appreciated in the case study but Domenici

was only fired for a temporary amount of time because Cadwells story wasn't able to be

supported with any video evidence from that morning. This is not the first time a person

of african descent has been shot and killed without reasoning and the murderer has

walked away from their crime freely. Mehserle was convicted of involuntary

manslaughter and served ONE year in jail for the killing of Grant III. Grants, along with

most families, wouldnt feel this was enough punishment for the murder of their loved

one, they felt no justice was served for them in this incident. This was not an accident

and one year isn't acceptable for the murder of a person. Mehserle was required to pay

nearly $3 million in settlement to the Grant family but he now roams freely. A murderer

served one year in jail and is now free, that's okay?

Things must change, there have been continuous cases of similar things happening like

this case in 2009, it's now 2017 and these same police officers are unnecessarily killing

our people because of thoughts of a weapon being pulled, thoughts of unwillingness to

cooperate or thoughts of suspicion. All of these cases are started by police officers

thoughts. I believe there should be a law put in place that a weapon cannot be pulled

unless there is certainty of a weapon, as in a weapon must be present before police can

act upon the suspect. This would eliminate any confusion in the court when it comes to

incidents like this, where someones life was taken over a thought. There are too many

innocent, unarmed people, specifically african american people, that are being killed by

these caucasian police officers that it seems intentional. If there was a law put in place

like this, police officers would become more cautious of the scene before acting

unnecessarily. This law along with the cameras that have been required to be worn by

the officers and the cameras in the police cars would provide enough for a person to be

blamed, charged with correct charges and face the correct sentence for the crimes. This

would decrease the amount of police to citizen crime because police officers wouldnt

be able to point a weapon at someone because of what they thought may happen. This

would make it more intense when a police officer is put in a position where a weapon is

pulled but just like with any other situation police officers can be trained to handle to

situation accordingly.

Sources:

Fraley, Malaika. "Oscar Grant Case: Civil Jury Rules in Favor of Johannes Mehserle,

Denies Award to Slain Mans Father." The Mercury News. The Mercury News, 12 Aug.

2016. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.

"Centuries of rage: The murder of Oscar Grant III." San Francisco Bay View. N.p., n.d.

Web. 01 May 2017.