Oakland Councilwoman calls Grant shooting an “execution”

Fifty protesters, including an Oakland city councilwoman and several prominent religious leaders, crowded the office of Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff  Wednesday morning while hundreds of other protesters demonstrated in the evening calling for criminal charges to be filed against the former BART Police officer who shot 22 year-old Oscar Grant to death New Year’s Day at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland, the Oakland Tribune reported.

Today’s protests occurred as the officer accused of opening fire resigned from the police force today, which now allows him to avoid questioning from police investigators because he is no longer part of the transit agency.

The morning group, which included Desley Brooks, the city councilwoman for part of East Oakland, Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson and J. Alfred Smith of Allen Temple Baptist Church, demanded answers from Orloff in his ninth floor office, as fallout stemming from the controversial incident where two-year BART Police veteran Johannes Mehserle, 27, shot Grant in the back as he laid on his stomach on the station platform, continues to boil in the Bay Area.

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Posted by Alison Leslie on 20/01/2009. Filed under Police Brutality & Killings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.