Cop Shoots Apparently Helpless Man In The Back (Update: Officer quits to avoid IA questions)

I never post on ATS, but I've been lurking here for years.

After I read this post & viewed the two different linked videos. Tears came to my eyes... I honestly believe that young man was murdered in cold blood.

The two videos clearly, without a shadow of a doubt show a capital execution performed on a compliant & cooperative police detainee. What happened to being innocent until proven guilty? In the U.S.

The fatal act of aggression by the BART officer is clearly unjustified.. There was absolutely NO reason for that officer to pull his gun.. The victim was subdued, detained & not once showed any sign of non compliance.

The people yelling in the background means nothing. Sure it creates a tense atmosphere for the officers. But as the news reporter said in one of the clips the BART officer had 2 years of experience. Surely he had dealt with a similar situation before or had at the very least been trained to work in the "Rapid Transit" environment. Plus there were other officers standing right there to back their partners up & maintain order throughout what should have been an arrest process.

When were transit police vested with the powers of jury, judge & executioner?

I call for real justice... That officer should be charged with 2nd degree murder.

It's very sad to see that just because these individuals were gangbanger-ish, that people see no wrong in a law enforcement official executing a defenseless human being. Now if it were a protester or some anti-government anarchist, you would all be crying foul, such a shame.

I just wanted to say at first when i read the accident theory i said "ah, i can see that" but then i examined the footage closer and he fittled with his holster a bit before getting his gone out. It wasnt like he had lighting fast reaction and missed the taser. He screwed up big time. But wheather you want to call it murder or manslaughter he did a bad thing and will go to jail for it. Atleast thats what should happen.

Here is a link to a newly released cell phone video of the event that clearly shows the police officer pulling the man off of the wall from a seated position, lying him face down on the ground, pulling his gun out, and shooting him in the back execution style. He only covers his face with his hands after he looks up and sees all of the people recording him with their camera phones. The video is disturbing; 18+ only please. The actual situation starts at about 45 seconds into the film.

www.ktvu.com...

After reviewing the video, it is my opinion that the officer, Johannes Mehserle, should be tried and convicted of murder to uphold the integrity of the law and the integrity of all the good police officers that put their lives at risk daily. It is good to support law enforcement, but we should never blindly support the law enforcement to the extent that we excuse obvious murder.

[edit on 1/7/2009 by Ablastard]

When the cops tell you "assume the position", do it. You'll live longer and with less bruises.

It's unfortunate what happened, but cops now a days aren't has patient as cops a generation ago.

This just goes to show, if you have even a crappy camera on your cell phone learn how to use it! If it weren't for the public the official story would say that "a suspected terrorist tried to run away from the officers and was shot" or something similar. You the public are the only force that polices the police so know your rights to take pictures / video of the police.

I posted this a few pages back but I thought I would repost it for the benefit of the newer people to this thread.....

There were at least 2 people still in contact with the victim when the officer stood up and drew his weapon. If the officer had used a taser he would have electrocuted the other 2 officers (and whoever else) was still in physical contact with the victim.

So either the officer intended to use his taser and not worry about electrocuting everyone else at the same time and accidentallly picked his sidearm instead, or the officer deliberately drew his sidearm and shot the man in the back. Which is it? I have a hard time believing that the officer intended to electrocute his fellow officers.

This is just murder execution style.
I feel for the victim's family.

Good to see the Boyz in Blu...............
I man hey where are the boys in blue?
I thought black (uniforms) indicates paramilitary?
Things look so ugly here and abroad.
Clearly the fuzz are tooling up for big time action.

Originally posted by Kryties
I posted this a few pages back but I thought I would repost it for the benefit of the newer people to this thread.....

There were at least 2 people still in contact with the victim when the officer stood up and drew his weapon. If the officer had used a taser he would have electrocuted the other 2 officers (and whoever else) was still in physical contact with the victim.

So either the officer intended to use his taser and not worry about electrocuting everyone else at the same time and accidentallly picked his sidearm instead, or the officer deliberately drew his sidearm and shot the man in the back. Which is it? I have a hard time believing that the officer intended to electrocute his fellow officers.

The cop is a Mad Dog... Naturally, he could tell the difference between a light plastic toy thing and his 10mm service gun. The idea that the tazer was not used due to worries of electrocution is remote since the 2 contacts would only stun the person shot. You can watch demonstration videos and many of the tazer test subjects are held and lowered by several men so no falling injuries are sustained.

The first rule of a firearm is to be sure of your target and what lies beyond. He was sure and squeezed off a round. Another rule is that never point a gun at someone unless you intend to kill them. Now if he will claim that it was a glitch in his personal matrix than it will get pleaded down to a lesser charge.

At some point the people are going to turn on the cops and rip them all to strips. The police are making numerous enemies of the people that pay them. They have become militarized! Cops uphold the law and preserve the peace not blast anything that moves and ask questions later. Mad Dogs get put down.

I'm sorry I don't have the time at the moment to read every post so I appologise now if it has been noted before. In the video a 3:43 mark one of the youths walks past the camera with something in his right hand that could be construed as a fire arm. Take a look and see what you think.

It is a natural response to tighten up when getting assaulted or being tasered which just makes it harder for the one trying to control the situaion (cops) to get the desired effect they are looking for.

They always say the same damn thing "pending investigation or under investigation" Generally nothing becomes of it, justice is not served and everyone is cleared of wrong doing except the ones that were cuffed. The 25 million dollar lawsuit becomes $300,000.00 and an apology is given.

Wait until some jacked up soldiers start coming home from the middle east and applying for these law enforcement positions.

reply to post by prometheus1111


"Wait until some jacked up soldiers start coming home from the middle east and applying for these law enforcement positions. "

Already happened.

See the news lately?

Aren't all police officers required to leave the safety on their gun, while it's in the holster?

Even if he is claiming to reach for his taser, but accidentally reached for his gun instead, it doesn't explain why the safety was off when it fired.

The BART officer could be up for 2nd degree murder charges not just an "unlawful death" charge. This senseless violence has to stop.

That was a chaotic scene. The kids were behaving like animals. I can imagine only a few officers feeling vulnerable and afraid. If the policeman is charged for this the circumstances should be considered.

18 pages later and all the ideas that were said in the first ten are starting to recycle.. So here is a list:

1) Tazer does not look or handle the same as gun, difference would be obvious.

2) The 'safety' of both the tazer and gun are different. On either one he would have had to remove safety before firing unless he walks around with safety off.

3) It appears as if he chambered a round before firing.

4) Paused to take aim.

5) LEO are allegedly trained to handle stress and should not make such a foolish mistake as thinking his gun was actually a tazer.


The following is my own opinion on LEO and the subordination structure in general:

The only thing that gives these LEO 'authority' over us are arbitrary written words and peoples willingness to be led by them. Under natural law, there is no reason why we should subordinate to power structure that is rife with corruption. I am fully of the opinion that anyone carrying a weapon on that platform should have returned fire on that officer under the system of natural law. What are we coming to as a society when a group of armed and dangerous men can murder openly without immediate repercussion? Are we so brainwashed to believe that it is OK for one group of people to be heavily armed and authorized to kill, and for the remainder of people to subordinate to them simply because they are told to? There are multiple videos of leo abusing their alleged 'power' while a mob of people stand and watch. Under natural law, that mob should act together to restrain and remove abusers of 'power'. Unfortunately, that mob has been trained to subordinate at all expense.

Edited to add: For a better idea of what is meant by natural law, one can read the fiction book "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Heinlein. A character in that book details a system of natural law and introduces the phrase 'rational anarchy' which is a system of collective policing where authority is not centralized but distributed.

[edit on 7-1-2009 by Ionized]

News video shows damning evidence against the BART copper.

1)Grant was clearly handcuffed.(and for those who say the copper put his hands to his head in shock,go back a few pages to a link I posted that shows the copper struggling to get the cuffs off of Grant.That is not the actions of a man in shock)

2)At one point the cop had his taser out (hence Grants pleads not to be tasered) and had then put it back in his holster to handcuff Grant.

3)His taser was on his left hip,his gun was on his right.Video footage clearly shows him reaching for his gun,not his taser.

Note that the taser has yellow colouring on it,which is not seen in the weapon used to shoot Grant.

www.ktvu.com...



[edit on 7-1-2009 by DantesLost]