The victim, Oscar Grant, was face down, handcuffed on the cold, hard concrete platform floor, with an officer kneeling on his back or neck. The shooting officer draws his gun out of his holster, stands up, and shoots at essentially point blank range. But then look at the expression on his face: he looks down at his hand holding the gun, and the look on his face is one of shock, dismay, mortification. The officers don’t immediately call for medical attention, though. They flip the guy over onto his back, and at that point, the train upon which the videographer was filming takes off.
So, I don’t know what was in Johannes Mehserle, the now-former officer’s mind when he did this. But there are some good questions here, like why on earth does someone carry their gun and their taser right next to each other where the possibility of mistake is so high? Why did he draw his gun to begin with, even if he thought it was his taser, as he claims? The man in custody was handcuffed and face-down, and the other officer was kneeling upon him. He didn’t need to be electrocuted nor shot.
I don’t know if he meant to commit murder, but he did shoot an unarmed, defenseless man. Mehserle needs to go to jail for a good long time.
angry
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