A New Year’s Day shooting in which a subway police officer fired a deadly shot into the back of an unarmed man has the San Francisco Bay Area demanding answers as authorities appeal for patience…
The young men had been celebrating the new year at a popular waterfront tourist spot, The Embarcadero. They were heading home when police pulled them from the train car. Some of the young men were handcuffed, but not 22-year-old Oscar Grant. The video from the anonymous passenger shows Grant seated on the floor with his back against the wall.
Grant holds up his hands, appearing to plead with police. Burris said Tuesday that Grant was asking police not to use a Taser.
Seconds later, police put Grant face-down on the ground. Grant appears to struggle. One of the officers kneels on Grant as another officer stands up, tugs at his gun, unholsters it and fires a shot into Grant’s back.
The bullet went through Grant’s back and then ricocheted off the floor and through his lungs. Grant…died seven hours later, KTVU reported.
Unconscionable, unforgivable.
Disgusting. Minimum of ten years in prison for this stupid, renegade cop. There was no need to pull his gun out of his holster.
I think I would feel safer with the mafia protecting me. At least they have a sense of honor.
How is this possible??? Law enforcement officers? These are thugs with a license to kill…and thank God for mobile phone cams.
You keep referring to ‘endless tales from the British Fascist State’ – what is this then? Tale From a Nazi Camp? Unbelievable that US the beacon of freedom and liberty for so many evidently has turned into a police state. There are too many examples here and elsewhere to consider this as mad exceptions. It seems systemic… What a mess.
Very sad and sickening. I doubt the cop meant to shoot the kid, but that doesn’t matter. The cop willfully pulled his gun, pointed it at someone, and pulled the trigger.
Pretty soon we will see the cop apologists show up and once again troll the shit about the kid deserved it.
Unfortunately, in this country, only the DA can bring criminal charges. It would be better if citizens had a way of initiating charges in court.
These “police officers” are not part of the species homo sapiens but the sub-species homo stupidus. They are not fit to be employed by any rational authority or company. They are clearly guilty of one of the most heinous pre-meditated murders ever. If in a jurisdiction where the sentence for this is a death sentence this should be expedited. If in a jurisdiction where the sentence is life imprisonment they serve this sentence identified as corrupt ex-police officers without the benefit of protective custody / vulnerable prisoner protection where the life sentence will inevitably be a *short* one. This should apply to the whole to the whole team and not just the individual officer who fired the shot, since it is clear they conspired as a team to carry out this murder.
The bullet went through Grant’s back and then ricocheted off the floor and through his lungs. Grant…died seven hours later, KTVU reported.
The concrete floor manufacturer should be sued.
Instant criminal charges. The cop should be fired immediately and put in a cell with the other people being arrested. IDIOT!
I come from a family of cops and this is INEXCUSABLE.
that is just simply fucked up, the family needs to press charges. I also think the other men that were being detained have a case against all of those cops.
Eideard, I really hope you can follow this story for us in the future if anything new arises.
While I completely agree that the ex-cop in question is guilty of a very serious crime, why do most people think the guy pulled his gun and shot the guy on purpose? Or even pulled his gun? Most likely the guy meant to use a tazer since some have said the victim seemed to struggle. Tazers are shaped (usually) like guns, handle and trigger really. At least the ones that I’ve seen used.
The guy is an idiot no matter what happened and there’s no reason for him to bother proclaiming his innocence. What is more sad though is the fact that his family is getting death threats.
It used to be they would shoot the kid, then plant some drugs and drop a gun on him. Now these Nazi’s are so bold and stupid they dont mind murdering someone in front of numerous witnesses with video cameras. What does this say about the mindset of “authorities” these days…not only in law enforcement but at most levels of government.
Fusion…I’m not buying that this was accidental, this cop lost control and murdered the kid. He probably called him a “pig” or something else life threatening.
You can clearly see that the officer was surprised that he had shot him with a firearm. I believe he was going to shoot him with a Tazer and grabbed the wrong pistol grip.
Poor training and poor judgment.
Unfortunately it does not excuse him for what he did and he should be punished.
Yes I support law enforcement and no I don’t support this officer or this team.
I agree with Adam Curry. The officer got confused and though this pistol was his taser. They look and feel similar.
The cop should be put in jail for criminal negligence causing death.
# 10 UNKN said, “Or even pulled his gun?”
Because it was caught on video.
Reading (and watching) is fundamental…
#12 has it right, he was trying to use his taser.
These officers are carrying thier tasers on the same side of thier body as thier pistols. This is against the dircetions from the taser manufacturer. That arrangment makes it very easy to make this kind of mistake to happen. This isn’t the first time this has happened.
I dont think that the officer should get off scott free, but this is not 1st, 2nd or even 3rd degree murder.
What I meant by that was he didn’t mean to pull his gun at all, but instead his non lethal weapon, the taser.
Yes, it is unconscionable and unforgivable!
This is sickening. Thank goodness that so many bystanders had the courage to use their mobile phone cams to bear witness of the murder of this young man. I can see now why the good people of San Francisco are rioting over this incident. The people must send a strong message to the Government which makes clear that the actions of paramilitary thugs will not be tolerated.
In Canada (where I live) the people lacked the courage to riot when an unarmed immigrant, Robert Dziekanski, was tasered 5 times and died at the hands of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (less than 30 seconds after the police state thugs arrived on the scene) and *no* charges were laid against police, see http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/552940 (see the video of the actual event at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wYEBd-Mpus).
#12 I agree he was most likely going for his tazer. That’s what the article assumes too and appears increasingly obvious.
Sadly, 10 years in prison for this jackass cop as a minimum is due as far as I’m concerned. We need to start a culture of personal responsibility for actions – as painful as it may be.
In the past, cops would merely make up shit to cover their abuses or stupidity. That cover is getting more difficult to control.
# 16 UNKN said, “What I meant by that was he didn’t mean to pull his gun at all, but instead his non lethal weapon, the taser.”
Okay, I don’t buy it. Have you ever carried in a holster?
The holstered tasers that the police use weigh about 7oz.
There is NO way an experienced officer would confuse the two, even in blindfolded.
#18 – Paddy-RAMBO
>>Have you ever carried in a holster?
It’s no wonder they call you “Paddy-RAMBO”!!
I can just see it now, Paddy-RAMBO strutting down the sidewalk, a pearl-handled six-shooter in each hand, as the liberal bodies pile up in his wake.
Zounds!
OK, I hadn’t seen the video before, but as soon as the shot goes off the cop with the gun immediately looks up with a look of “Holy shit, what just happenned?” and then puts his hands to his head as if he definitely didn’t mean to pull the trigger.
I’m not saying he doesn’t need to be reprimanded or even serve a little time, but this is not the “Cop guns down black guy in cold blood!” story people are making it out to be.
#18 Paddy-O
I carry everyday if I can.
Since you may not have any idea what it’s like to be shot at or attacked you probably don’t know that in a stressful situation it is super easy to make mistakes.
I don’t carry anything but a firearm so mistaking it for a Taser won’t be an issue.
I still think the family should sue everyone and the department until their eyes bleed over this. It would happen to me if I made a mistake.
Yes, I have carried before and I’m sure there’s a difference in weight , but the cop didn’t even raise the gun, just unholstered and fired in one very quick motion. I’ve never drawn a weapon under duress and I realize the cop wasn’t in a fight for his life but if he was on edge or nervous or any other emotion that messes with your perception who knows. A well trained and experienced cop most likely would notice the difference but who knows what can happen, I sure don’t.
An officer should only draw their weapon from the holster when they believe there is a life threatening situation to themselves or to others in the immediate vicinity. Thanks to the video, there is obviously no life threatening situation, but what will the officer state his beliefs of the situation were.
IMO – The firearm should have never been drawn from it’s holster. I believe there wasn’t even enough of a threatening situation to sufficiently warrant the draw of a taser.
I guarantee that if each and every one of these people were allowed to carry their own firearms the whole situation would have been handled with a lot more maturity on behalf of the police officers.
This type of behavior is a perfect example of how an unarmed populous become subjects and not citizens. These officers were treating these people worse than what a redneck would do to a bullfrog, with a fist full of firecrackers.
What a bunch of A$$h0l3s, this poor kid lost his life here because of reckless actions of these officers. The best result of this situation would be to have the smell of frying bacon all over NYC.
Thank god for cellphones with video cameras. Cops are human and therefore have all the human weaknesses and failings. Thanks to this technology they’re reminded that they can’t use their authority to act with impunity. If they break the law they face the consequences, just like everybody else.
He can apply for a job in the brazilian police.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phIDpJnkPwE&feature=related
I agree with UNKN. I couldn’t see his facial ex pression but his body language seemed to indicate surprise after he discharged the gun. Is it true that the tasers and guns have similar grips? That seems a bad idea.
The ADVANCED TASER M26 (Police version) is 19.2 ounces, the glock M26 which it is modeled after is 19.75 ounces (26 ounces loaded). The civilian version if the tazer is 7 ounces.
Not so easy to tell apart by weight.
um, am i missing something here?
i’ve viewed numerous camera angles on this on youtube, and the guy who got shot was clearly already subdued. there was no need for any kind of firearm or taser.
period. case closed. i don’t know what you people are even talking about.
#18, Cow-Paddy Idiot,
So what is your point?
#15, Les,
If the person was not struggling or the arrest unprovoked, then even the tazer would have been illegal. Killing someone during the course of a illegal assault is first degree murder, even for the cops not even touching him.