Criticism mounts as home videos show BART cop shooting, killing unarmed rider January 4, 2009
Posted by californiabeat in East Bay.Tags: BART, BART Police, Cop, criticism, Fruitvale, Fruitvale BART, Home Video, John Burris, Karina Vargas, Killing, KPIX, KTVU, New Year's, Oscar Grant, Police, Station, Train, Video
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Moments after the shot is fired, the BART officer is seen holstering his weapon. Other officers appear to react with surprise that he opened fire. Oscar Grant, 22, lies mortally wounded in front of them on the platform. (Video Still Courtesy: KTVU-TV)
Updated: 1/5/2008 2:00 p.m. PST with image stills from home video and the new lawsuit being filed against BART.
By Tim Jue / Beat Staff Writer
Disturbing home video obtained and broadcast by Bay Area television stations Saturday evening shows the killing of an unarmed 22 year-old Hayward man by a San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit Police officer at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland, Calif. during the early morning hours of New Year’s Day.
The newly released video clips, shot by two separate witnesses who recorded the confrontation between the deceased man, Oscar Grant, and BART Police officers who were responding to a skirmish between two groups of feuding passengers, are giving new insight and raising deep concerns about why a transit agency police officer drew his service weapon and fired a fatal shot that killed Grant, a father of a four year-old girl.
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- The un-named BART Police officer is seen reaching for his gun as he squats over Oscar Grant, 22, in this video still. He would unholster his weapon, and fires a shot that mortally wounds the unarmed man. (Courtesy: KTVU-TV)
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- The BART officer who fired the shot appears to be in a state of shock. He stands over the mortally wounded man hunched over with both hands on his knees.
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- Moments before he is shot, Grant is seen with both hands raised. He is soon wrestled to the ground and shot by a BART officer standing nearby.
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- Moments after the shot is fired, the BART officer is seen holstering his weapon. Other officers appear to react with surprise that he opened fire.
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- Oscar Grant is seen up against the wall of the Fruitvale BART station platform while officers attempt to subdue him and the group he was with New Year’s morning.
Television station KTVU reported Saturday and aired footage it obtained from an unidentified BART passenger and another rider that showed Grant lying on his stomach detained by police. Two police officers attempted to subdue him by dragging him from a sitting position to one where he was lying flat on his stomach. One officer was shown holding Grant’s head to the platform pavement while another officer stood over him.
More California Beat BART Police Shooting Coverage:
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BART officials maintained that Grant was not restrained when he was shot, and prominent Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris, who has been retained by the family of the deceased man, said Saturday that Grant was compliant to officers and was not cuffed when he sustained a gunshot wound to his back.
On Sunday, Burris formally told reporters that the family would be filing a $25 million lawsuit against BART, and that criminal charges should be filed against the unidentified transit police officer who killed Grant.
One of the two pieces of video, shot from within an idle BART train at the station, showed Grant with his hands behind his back, but it remains unclear whether he was restrained by handcuffs when the officers were subduing him.
The footage showed the officer that was kneeling over Grant reach for his holster, pull out his service pistol and fire a single shot that strikes Grant in the back.
The BART officers surrounding Grant appear to react with surprise, and the officer who fired the fatal shot is seen holding his hands to his temple and then is shown hunched over with his hands on his knees — suggesting that he also reacted in a state of shock, according to the video obtained by KTVU.
Witnesses told reporters on Thursday morning that the officer was heard saying “Oh my gosh” after he shot Grant.
Another piece of video that Bay Area television stations aired was caught by 19 year-old Union City resident Karina Vargas, who disembarked from one of the trains that was halted at the Fruitvale platform to film the police response to a reported brawl on-board a New Year’s Eve Dublin/ Pleasanton-bound train that brought revelers from San Francisco festivities back to the East Bay.
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Her footage was also aired Saturday, and captures the scuffle that led up to the shooting, and the ensuing chaos and outrage from bystanders who saw the officer open fire on Grant.
Her video shows the officer reaching for the weapon in his holster, but does not show the shooting incident. Witnesses on the train and Vargas can be heard reacting with shock.
“Oh my god, they just shot him!” someone in the crowd screams.
More cries of “he’s been shot!” are heard from witnesses. Someone appears to react by trying to pelt a BART Police officer with something.
Vargas tells KPIX-TV, the CBS television station in San Francisco, that she believes the shooting was unjustified and that Grant was cooperative with officers — pointing out segments in her video where Grant is seen with both hands raised — and that she resisted attempts from BART police officers who tried to confiscate the camera that was given to her as a Christmas gift just a week earlier.
Friends and family of the deceased man attended an evening vigil and memorial outside the Fruitvale BART station Saturday evening. They left cards, flowers and other items in memory of Grant.
A BART spokesman also attended the event and said that the video aired today is only one angle to the story, but family members chastised him and the officer involved in front of reporters during an interview. The transit district has indicated in interviews and press conferences that the shooting may have been accidental.
BART has come under fire for the incident and the response by its police officers who confiscated numerous cell phones and other video capturing devices from witnesses who recorded the incident during the first few hours of the new year.
Vargas came forward with her video Saturday saying that she had to shed some light about the incident — one that has left the transit agency on the defensive as an outpouring of criticism continues to mount over the killing of Grant by one of BART’s 200+ police officers.
The unnamed officer has been with the department for two-years, according to the agency. He has been placed on paid administrative leave while BART conducts an internal investigation and the Alameda County District Attorney’s office looks into the shooting.
During a Sunday evening press conference at BART headquarters in downtown Oakland, Police Chief Gary Gee urged the public to not draw quick conclusions based on the videos. He said that anyone who has any additional information about what they saw or captured on tape, to call the Alameda County District Attorney’s office.
I think the officers that confiscated cameras and cellphones should be arrested for witness intimidation and interfering with a crime scene, as well as for theft. All of this is just rather disgusting.
Now maybe the other officers are upstanding citizens, but there needs to be a mechanism in place to prevent these types from serving in another force, should be actually be fired or dismissed.
I am a 31 year old resident of San Jose Ca. I am a very open minded woman who loves everyone. I spent the begining of my childhood in New York and New Jersey and have also spent 7+ years living in the South.I was raised to love and care for ALL nomatter what they looked like and nomatter where they came from. I have experienced descrimination and have still managed to have the love for all in my heart regardless of the fact.
I do not watch the news or read the newspaper, not because I am ignorant or don’t care, but because I am a very sensitive soul and I don’t want to see the killing and hurt that this world is going through. Don’t get me wrong I realize what is going on in my world and I am not living in a fantasy world, but I choose to not watch the horrible things that are going on. I know that there is hope for ALL THAT RESIDE IN OUR WORLD (NOMATTER WHO YOU ARE OR WHERE YOU LIVE). I believe in MIRACLES and the fact that people can change.
We look at all of the footage going on over seas and all of the murders and assults due to the fact that people are hungry and need to take care of themselves and their families. I have seen police officers beat people with my own eyes and take them into custody. We have all seen the police brutality against certain people all over the T.V. in recent years. I never thought that we would actually witness a police officer shoot a man of NO threat on our boob tubes.
I am disgusted and ashamed of this whole situation. I am a BLACK WOMAN and I am screaming the fact that this is a TRUE HATE CRIME (AGAINST A LIVING AND BREATHING HUMAN BEING).
THIS ACT WAS UNCALLED FOR AND UNNECESSARY!!
I BELIEVE IN HUMAN RIGHTS FOR ALL. I DO NOT CARE WHAT COUNTRY YOU LIVE IN.
I TRULY PRAY THAT JUSTICE WILL NOT DISAPPOINT US AS IT HAS FOR MANY MANY YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WE HAVE ROOKIE COPS EVERYWHERE AND WHEN THEY GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO SOMETHING ILLEGAL THEY SURELY WILL.BUT THIS TRAGIC INCIDENT TAKES THE CAKE.LEGALLY THEY SHOULD FIRE HIM FROM THE FORCE,SEND HIM AND SEND HIM TO IRAQ WERE THEY DONT MIND KILLING AND BEING KILLED.THIS IS SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN’T LET SLIDE BECAUSE IF HE GET AWAY WITH THIS MATTER , IT’S GOING TO BE A RIOT.THIS IS A RACIAL MATTER AND I’M PRETTY SURE THAT EVERYONE AGREE’S.MY HEART GOES OUT TO THE FAMILY I’M SO SORRY ABOUT THE TRAGIC LOSS OF YOUR SON.YOU WILL ALWAYS BE IN MY PRAYERS.
If this happened 15 years ago those cops would have placed a gun in the hand of the victim and drugs in his pocket.
BART Police Chief Gary Gee said it was an “accident.” What part of this assassination was an accident?
Deciding the use of a gun was necessary when the suspect was face down on the ground?
Reaching for the gun?
Unbuckling the gun from the holster?
Pulling the gun from the holster?
Inactivating the safety mechanism on the gun?
Pointing the gun at the back of the victim?
Pulling the trigger?
That’s like saying someone accidentally took a shower.
This is what happens when you give power to the weakest members of society; those with a low I.Q. and unresolved childhood issues of control. Instead of therapy they are given a gun and a badge to hide behind. Considering the educational requirements to be a cop is a GED -Good Enough Degree- maybe we shouldn’t be surprised, caveat emptor. Not to mention this rookie cop was on the job for 2 years. So what you have is an angry 20-something-year-old uneducated kid whose been empowered with a gun and hides behind a badge and is now working through is mental problems one bullet at a time.
I’m in NY and just saw the video on the net, then found this page. The first phrase out of my mouth – ‘That was an execution.’ The officer who fired the shot is clearly seen standing over the victim and pulling the trigger. Good lord, the man is lying on his stomach with his hands behind his back! Why does the officer even have his gun drawn? The video shows no evidence of resistance by the man on the ground. The video shows no one else resisting with others sitting in cooperation. You have no idea how much this incident angers me. I have a son almost the same age as the victim and immediately thought of him and dread the thought of him ever coming across one of the idiots, cowards, who dare to call themselves an officer of the law. It seem that we see this type of thing in NYC almost yearly. The last thing I want to hear is this officer stating that he feared for his life, which is what these killers are using for an excuse for having executed an UNARMED citizen of the United States of America.
What is better evidence than a video? You get to relive the event, there is no need for forensics, or verbal recounts of the incident from eyewitnesses….. unless of course the MURDERER is a COP. Then there has to be an “unbiased investigation” What is more ‘unbiased’ than a video?…………. What we can all learn from this is: If you want to commit murder and get paid for it and never set foot in jail all you have to do is become a cop.
Dismissed from the force? That’s all? Have you any idea how ANGRY THAT MAKES ME? IT WAS AN EXECUTION!!!!! What the F!@%! is wrong with people that they don’t call for capital murder charges! CAPITAL MURDER! So a man puts on a police uniform and capital murder is a yawn now so I can join my friends for a nice dinner and drinks after watching the execution of a 22 yr old man on video? I watch his uncle crying on video, think of his young 4 yr old daughter that he loved, and then I’ll just forget about it, chalk it off to an accident and go have a nice evening? I THINK NOT!!!! THERE MUST BE MURDER CHARGES!
The sad fact is. Had the police not intervened, there probably would have been no further violence. The police escalated a small fracas into a murder.
First off, I am responding to this:
“SEND HIM AND SEND HIM TO IRAQ WERE THEY DONT MIND KILLING AND BEING KILLED.THIS IS SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN’T LET SLIDE BECAUSE IF HE GET AWAY WITH THIS MATTER , IT’S GOING TO BE A RIOT.THIS IS A RACIAL MATTER AND I’M PRETTY SURE THAT EVERYONE AGREE’S”
Although it should NOT matter, I will preface by saying I am a BLACK MALE.
First, how dare you compare the Iraq War to this incident. My cousin served bravely in Iraq, he was paralyzed when an IED went off under his HumVee. In all honesty, f*ck you for what you just said. Soldiers are not killers. They do not decide where they serve, they merely go. I cannot even begin to express my anger at what you just stated.
Secondly, not “EVERYONE” agrees with you. In fact, I disagree. This does not seem to be a racial matter at all. That officer used unnecessary force and should be punished accordingly. Why everything these days has to be a “Racial incident” is beyond me. People are ignorant; they must see through the fact that there is much MORE than race on this planet.
I think that anyone with a reasonable IQ can see that you are A) Upset and B) need to think out your thoughts a bit more.
Unbelievable.
There’s nothing courageous behind colonialist soldiers. Give me a break. Break out of your brain washed conditioning. The people should not have to fear their tax paid “services”.
If the cop was not ready to fire a gun at the right time. He shouldn’t be holding one in the first place. Obviously he is not fit for the job. A police man should be quick at thinking and know the right things to do during a situation. Not pull out a gun and fire. He obviously has poor judgement. Whoever hired him didn’t fully prepare him.
400 YEARS AND IT’S THE SAME ATROCITIES. I HAVE FAITH IN PRESIDENT ELECT OBAMA AND I DO UNDERSTAND THAT IT’S GOING TO TAKE HIM QUITE SOMETIME TO STRAIGHTEN OUT ALL THE MESS THAT BUSH AND ALL HIS COUNTERPARTS BOTH LIVING AND DEAD HAS CREATED. MY GREATEST FEAR IS THAT HE LIVES LONG ENOUGH TO EVEN GET THE OPPORTUNITY. I PRAY FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA, HIS WIFE, HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW, AND ESPECIALLY HIS CHILDREN. MOST OF ALL I PRAY FOR THIS WRETCHED PLACE CALLED AMERICA. IN ALL HONESTY I CANNOT SAY THAT I AM PROUD TO BE AN AFRO-AMERICAN.MY SOUL JUST ACHES AND ACHES.