On Thursday, a friend who works for works for public radio in San Francisco emailed me and asked if I planned to cover the murder trial of former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle.
“I woulda thought there would be more interest in So Cal given the “meta-themes” – police brutality, transit cops with attitude, race in the courts – but doesn’t seem like it…”, she wrote.
Indeed, the case is tragic and emotion-fraught, with all of the elements that our fair city would ordinarily take to obsessively:
In the early morning hours of January 1, 2009, now-resigned BART police officer, Johannes Mehserle shot and killed a 22-year-old unarmed BART passenger named Oscar Grant III. It seems Grant and some of his friends were thought to be fighting on the train and BART police were called.
At some point, Mehserle and some other officers got Grant—who is black— down on the ground with the intention of cuffing him. But then Mehserle—who is white— stood up and shot Grant in the back while a dozen or more witnesses watched.
And, this being the 21st century, at least 5 different people shot cell-phone videos that show some aspect of the shooting. (Two of those videos are in the YouTube compilation above.)
Now Mehserle is on trial for murder.
His defense attorney contends that the former BART cop intended to draw his taser but instead mistakenly and tragically the drew his service weapon— thus fatally wounding Grant.
The prosecutor says nonsense, that Mehserle deliberately shot Grant while the man was face down on the cement.
The case has aroused a deep emotional reaction throughout the Bay Area as the shocking videos of the incident played repeatedly on local TV and quickly went viral on YouTube. Large demonstrations have resulted, some of them violent.
However in LA, no one seemed to notice.
In fact emotions have run so high in the Bay Area, that the trial was moved from Alameda to downtown Los Angeles.
The trial began on June 10 and has been going on all this week, replete with lots of daily drama.—but with very little notice from the LA press.
LA Times reporter Jack Leonard has been in court every day, and told me he is fascinated by the case, yet I notice most of his stories are either buried deep in the paper, or relegated to occasional LANow blog posts (even though, as one of the paper’s top crime reporters, his work is usually featured prominently).
Other Los Angeles media outlets have been similarly lackadaisical in their coverage.
Independent LA journalist Thandisizwe Chimurenga, who has been covering the trial for a Spot.Us project, told me that when she tried to interest a couple of local outlets in her reporting, they all but yawned.
Hey, now that the Lakers have rather thrillingly won the NBA trophy (Go Artest! Go Kobe! Go Spain!), and the mini-post-victory riots and car burnings have been finally and thankfully quelled, perhaps we will need something else to occupy our….um… hearts and minds.
So maybe at least a bit of our attention will drift over to the People v. Mehserle.
Not that I would ever defend the L A Times’ overall editorial decisions these days, but your friend’s “meta-themes” of “police brutality, transit cops with attitude” and racism in the courts, tip her (heavy) hand and the strong biases she’d bring to the coverage.
However, as you note, insofar as this seems to be a general “yawn” not just from the LATimes, maybe we’re just not in the mood here in L A for that right now, people being more concerned with cutting cops from their neighborhoods, whether they’re in SLA- Parks and Perry (although with lots of critism of LAPD, still -which they seem to be toning down as Perry’s ambitions as mayor have emerged), especially homeowners associations angry that the promised trash fee hikes “for public safety” have, like other funds, gone into the General fund instead. Then the statewide talk of releasing prisoners, fanned by sensationalist fear-mongering from some unions like the Prison Guards and PPL, has fueled fears too.
However, there are very real fears of gangs that run amok, bring their territorial wars with them outside their hoods, and can take over a rail car or neighborhood in a flash if not controlled hard. (The very fears that have, among other things, quashed the much- needed extention of the Subway Red Line, from running through affluent westside neighborhoods on its logical route as far as relieving congestion goes.)
People are in more of a law-and-order mood down here. Last night’s disgraceful outburst of violence being a case in point – where “hooligans” or “knuckleheads” or just plain gang-bangers out for an excuse to wreak havoc, did so, including beating some guy unconscious even as he lay on the ground. (Was HE white? I noted that some arrested were white as well, including a white woman who seemed high or drunk – but was there a racial aspect to the selection of victims, as during the infamous 92 riots? Racism works both ways, and can get pretty murky and raise tensions and issues that just maybe, it’s wiser not to inflame further.)
However, I think there SHOULD be a broader investigation of “transit cops” here in L A, which is under the Sheriff’s Dept., not LAPD, at least as far as MTA goes. I recall that there was some controversy when the Sheriff’s Dept. took over the functions of a dedicated MTA-unit, or was it the other way around? And there was at least one allegation that an unruly homeless man was killed when a deputy failed to subdue him, an excessive use of force. There was at least one case where a taser that was supposed to subdue a man killed him instead.
We need to know, regardless of race or other status, that transit/ MTA cops/ deputies are trained to handle situations better than “accidentally” killing people because they misguage OR even confuse a taser with a gun!!! (THAT as an “excuse” is just self-indicting, an admission that the transit cop in question was just plain unqualified for his job. That does raise questions about whether transit/ MTA cops – Sheriff’s Deputies assigned to such, receive training that’s markedly inferior to what the regular police dept. cops receive. There seem to be a lot of questions in general, with Sheriff Deputies especially in poorer ethnic/ black neighborhoods, being too quick to panic and fire their guns. Though this also seems to happen a lot in towns like Inglewood, where cops are just as likely to be black.)
His defense attorney contends that the former BART cop intended to draw his taser but instead mistakenly and tragically the drew his service weapon— thus fatally wounding Grant.
I’m certainly not buying that argument. I don’t know what model he was using, but in looking at the Taser webpage, several of the models have the trigger position in a completely different spot than on a pistol. I would imagine that the pistol used by the Bart cops is probably a Glock. I honestly don’t see how someone could confuse it with a taser.
I’ve seen this video countless times and I’m still confused by his actions. I’m guessing he panicked and for whatever reson had his finger on the trigger and squeezed off the round not realizing the pressure he put on it. Squeezing off a round from an auto takes much less pressure than a wheel gun. With as crowded as that platform was it would make no sense to simply shoot a guy in the back that wasn’t posing some type of very real threat.
I also know he only had two years on and would guess he was obviously in the wrong occupation. I think the taser excuse is pretty weak. Wonder if he or his lawyer came up with that.
RP and SF. You both make very interesting points. All the more reasons to cover the Mehserle case.
I just began staring at the videos yesterday and they’re fascinating. My gut tells me that the two of you are both right, that it’d be tough to mistake the taser for the gun, even in a high stress moment.
But SureFire your explanation is makes a lot of sense as an alternative. When you look at Mahserle’s body language, he looks entirely freaked. And the fact he reholsters his gun so fast, as if he wants to take the shot back…. feels very telling.
SBL, I’m not sure where the chicken and egg thing occurs with regard to the coverage. Is there little public interest because of the lack of coverage? Or have the media outlets failed to cover the case more because it hasn’t caught fire?
Heaven knows we could spend the entire summer on our city/county/state budget problems and the ghastly mess of LA county probation. I too think we’re all just exhausted by it.
I had a hard time posting this last night because I just wanted to bask in the glorious Laker win, and the delight of watching two terrific teams play.
I thought the LAPD was quite good with the post game stuff. However those fools burning cars and beating that taxi driver (I think he was a taxi driver) make one have serious misgivings about the species to which we claim membership.
As for the note from my NPR friend, it was just a fast private note and, knowing her, I feel sure sure she wasn’t expressing her own POV but was postulating the “narratives” that she had thought others would likely focus on. It was more an analysis of the possible mood of the crowd, so to speak, than a reflection of her own prejudices. She’s a good news woman.
I also tried to find out how much a Taser weighs (it’s against the law to sell them in NY State and NJ, so I couldn’t go down to my local Taser store and pick one up (literally) just to feel the weight.
I have handled plenty of guns in my day, and while most of my experience has been with rifles and shotguns, I have some experience with pistols. My dad collected guns and had a couple of revolvers as well as automatic pistols. The heft of the guns felt different and I’m sure that I could tell which was which with my eyes closed. Sure Fire, please correct me if I’m wrong, but I would imagine you could easily do the same and know by mere touch which was a Taser and which was a pistol.
However those fools burning cars and beating that taxi driver (I think he was a taxi driver) make one have serious misgivings about the species to which we claim membership.
Wait, I thought only soccer fans caused problems 🙂 /snark>
Doing a bit of research on the relationship between the Sheriff’s Dept. and the MTA here in L A, the MTA transit police were taken over by the Sheriff’s Dept. in 1997 both for financial reasons and to hopefully improve their professionalism – subsequently, MTA cops were supposed to be retrained and offered jobs w/in the LASD but some couldn’t meet the background check requirements, there were some lawsuits and by now, presumably things have settled down.
However, among other incidents that raise concerns, and which have gotten no attention locally, the last week of August 09/ less than a year ago, at the North Hollywood Station of the Red Line, a Sheriff’s Deputy asked a man if he had a ticket and when the guy didn’t respond, 3 times (per spokesman Steve Whitemore in L A T Now’s Andrew Blankstein blog entry), and he tried to run away, the deputy took his hand just to stop him (so the story says) at which point the man tried to break free and run, was repeatedly tasered and died. After which some drug paraphernalia (a crack pipe?) fell out of his jacket.
Sounds like a deputy over-reacted to a guy who was high and couldn’t respond to requests to show his ticket – various other sources at the time complained that THIS story being local should, among OTHERS, be investigated as reflecting poor training on the part of Sheriff’s Deputies who patrol the subways and rail lines. One would expect they can deal with the crackheads and other assorted characters who are more prone to prowl public transportation. (The Times ran a recent expose on the Blue Line’s ridership which depicted a whole cast of “colorful” characters, and as some readers in the Letters to the Editor commented, seemed intended to sabotage construction of future MTA projects by seeming to reinforce the very fears homeowner groups have expressed for decades.) They/ we all need to know that the LASD is prepared now and in the future, to deal more appropriately and professionally not only with crackheads, homeless, the mentally ill but also potential gangbangers – without excess force or fueling racial tensions and even violence.
I recall grumbling in various other venues and blogs that this item was buried by the Times, which mentions it was being investigated both internally at LASD and by the DA (Sheriff Baca’s good friend, fellow Republican party wanna-be rainmaker Steve Cooley), never to be heard of again. This SHOULD be of prime concern to the County BOS which nominally oversees both the Sheriff and DA, as well as to the MTA Board, which needs to know that investments in the long-overdue rail projects won’t be undermined by bad PR from “accidentally” killing people. SO why would they be interested in something that happened in San Francisco? Especially since, that’s already been fanned into a white cop-kills defenseless black youth cuz of race and racism in the courts, scenario. (Glad to hear the NPR friend would think twice before pursuing that meme, it just sounded like a typical knee-jerk framing of the issue from someone who grew up in the 60’s-70’s and still thinks locked into those terms, the old-school liberal media.)
When REALLY, it’s more of a case where a cop just likely panicked and accidentally shot the kid under circumstances posited here, by your commenters and yourself, above. More in the vein of the LASD deputy who over-reacted and killed the junkie when he couldn’t produce a ticket and tried to evade capture. (“just took his hand” to stop him, huh?) It DOES sound like there may be “attitude” from some cops when their requests to comply with an order to show tickets or whatever aren’t met, but clearly, they should be able to step back and not react in some emotional/instinctive way.
Since taking over the MTA from its transit police, HAS the LASD proven that it can be trusted to handle any eventuality? What about actual roving gangs, potential terrorist attempts to plant substances, mentally ill person going berserk, etc.?
As for the cabbie who was beaten unconscious: we’ve since seen that he’s an immigrant from Africa, whose livelihood went up in smoke with the cab, and without papers and other documents that burned, he can’t legally drive. I hope some officials help him around the red tape to regain his licenses, and that his insurance pays for this. As for the rioters, who seem mostly all Latino from photos and write-ups, reader commenters to the LA Times, Daily News and other sources have bombarded their blogs in fury that this racial aspect isn’t noted, but their “get those illegal Latino low-lifes (and worse) out of my country” prevailing sentiment is precisely why it’s a good idea NOT to emphasize race here – or I’d argue, the Mehserle case. Once the issue becomes framed in terms of race, even the most reasonable people may find it hard to focus on anything else.
maybe your wordpress comment filter is eating comments again, so tried to resubmit but still nada, so pls. excuse if duplicate pops up.
SBL, Why my comment filter would snatch your comment, and yet merrily let through long lists of exhortations to buy weight loss drugs, is quite beyond me.
But I found it and rescued it.
As for the Times, fortunately for us, even with the cutbacks, it is blessed with very good reporters, like Andrew Blankstein and Jack Leonard (and many more), even if the editorial choices of those higher up aren’t always what we would wish them to be.
Randy, all interesting stuff.
You would know if you had a taser in your hand as compared to your gun, unless you were panicked beyond belief.
Yes, Leonard is doing a good job of presenting the facts and letting them lead to conjectures, not the other way around as is the case with more politically-motivated Times “reporters” these days who seem to take their marching orders from the editorial board. Curiously his article in the paper yesterday carried the headline in the hardcover edition that Mehserle’s allegations of accidentally shooting off the wrong gun are backed by his partner – but the story reveals that it was this partner who may have created a chaotic situation in the first place, in how he handled the rowdy youths who wouldn’t head his commands right away (it WAS NYear’s day after all, after a night of partying – alcohol was probably involved and high spirits), how he may have let the situation escalate, and then engaged in racial barbs with one of the youths. Even IF as the partner says, he was just repeating back to him the youth’s own racial slurs (not described), he’s the one who should have known better than to have responded in kind – he was supposed to DE-escalate the situation. Again, harkens back to poor training of transit cops, seems to me. Sounds more and more like Mehserle was caught up in an overall rowdy and high-testosterone situation where his own partner who’s now his principal witness, may have helped escalate the situation til it was all so tense he panicked.
heed, not head, of course…
And Happy Father’s Day to the dads out there and to our own.
I explored the differences between a Taser and a Sig Sauer, which is what he was using the time of the shooting, in this article.
http://carlosmiller.com/2009/01/07/could-a-taser-gun-be-so-easily-confused-for-a-firearm/