A press conference and protest by organizers with the newly formed Los Angeles Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant are scheduled for the morning of January 8 at the Criminal Justice Center on Temple Street in Downtown Los Angeles
The action is set to start at 8 a.m., a half-hour before Johannes Mehserle, the former Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer indicted on the charge of murder of Oscar Grant last year, will appear before L.A. County Superior Court Judge Robert Perry.
The hearing will be the first in the case in Southern California since an Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled last November that Mehserle's murder trial be moved to Los Angeles. Members of Grant's family, who are pressing a $50 million wrongful-death civil lawsuit against BART, are expected to speak at the January 8 press conference.
More than 40 people representing a diverse cross-section of Los Angeles communities met at Chuco's Justice Center in Inglewood on January 3 to plan for actions on January 8. The activists and citizens who came together were united by at least two common threads: Outrage at the slaying of Grant, and a belief that Mehserle should be convicted of murder.
Grant was shot in the back as he lay on his stomach on New Year's Day 2009 on an Oakland subway platform. An attorney for Mehserle says the former transit officer had intended to use his stun gun to subdue Grant and grabbed his service revolver by mistake.
The incident was caught on numerous cell phone cameras and widely distributed. According to media reports, Alameda Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay, who presided over Mehserle's preliminary hearing in June of last year, stated that "there's no doubt in my mind that Mr. Mehserle intended to shoot Oscar Grant with a gun and not a Taser."
A call to Mehserle's attorney, Michael Rains of Pleasanton, California, was not returned by press time.
Aidge Patterson, one of the organizers of the January 3 meeting, said the goal was to begin the process of creating a unified movement for Grant in Los Angeles.
"We definitely wanted to get the ball rolling early to show from the minute they touched down in L.A. (to let them know) that this isn't the place they're going to come to and get away with murder," he said. "Los Angeles is not going to stand for it. This is a city and a community that knows police brutality like no other place and because of that, there are literally thousands of people in this city who share the same story as Oscar Grant or similar to Oscar Grant."
That viewpoint resonated with Keishia Brunston, whose nephew, Deandre Brunston, died at the hand of police officers in a widely publicized case. The 38-year-old Compton resident said she came to the recent meeting on the Grant case "because it's for Oscar Grant and his family ... we're all Oscar Grant, Deandre Brunston, same thing. Everybody knows the situation with my nephew Deandre ... And it's just been happening ever since, back-to-back. So, I'm here to support all the families and Oscar Grant's family when they come to L.A."
Deandre Brunston was 24 when his shooting by Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies on August 24, 2003 was captured on video and also widely distributed.
Brunston, who had been sought for questioning in a domestic dispute, was cornered in a doorway by deputies and repeatedly stated he had a gun, which turned out to be false. He said he would fire on deputies if they released a police canine on him.
Deputies released the canine, and when Brunston made a sudden move, the officers fired more than 80 shots at him and shot the dog in the process. The canine was then airlifted to a hospital while Brunston was allowed to bleed to death.
Michelle Lolles said that she came to the January 3 meeting from Orange County because she was highly disturbed about what happened to Grant.
"It's ridiculous," Lolles said. "We don't feel protected. We feel chased, hunted."
Police brutality, Lolles added, "has just begun to be an epidemic and it needs to be addressed."
Brothers Joshua and Jedi Jimenez, along with Kayla De Los Reyes, said they traveled from Long Beach to attend the meeting out of concern and to show solidarity.
The three are members of Anakbayan L.A., a Filipino youth and student organization.
"Anakbayan stands in solidarity with all struggling peoples all over the world, but especially in this area," De Los Reyes said. "Now that they've moved the trial down to Los Angeles, we want to show our support. It doesn't matter where the court case happens; there will always be people to stand up for the brothers this is happening to."
A final preparation meeting for the January 8 press conference and protest was also held by the coalition on January 6.
The group has set up a Facebook page and listserve for people who want to be kept abreast of the developments and upcoming actions related to the case.
Organizers say that one of their needs in the future will be donations for Bay Area activists and family members of Grant who want to travel to Los Angeles for the trial.
Organizers say they also need volunteers who can attend the trial to monitor it.
John Burris, the attorney representing Grant's family in the lawsuit against BART, said that it was important to have people present at the trial to observe what is going on at all times.
"It lets the judge and everyone know that this case is important ... and in order to ensure that justice is done, it is important that the jurors see that there are people out here who care about this case, and hopefully it will cause them to not allow police bias to enter into their verdict or decision-making process," he said.
According to Melody Ramirez, who serves as a clerk for Judge Perry, the dates for Mehserle's murder trial might not be set at the January 8 hearing, which is open to the public. Ramirez said it also possible that the January 8 hearing will move very quickly.
Patterson said that police brutality activists and concerned citizens will have a visible presence at the court house regardless of how quickly the hearing moves.
"The central idea that we want to send is that we are united for justice for Oscar, we demand that this killer cop be jailed, and we understand that this case is not an isolated case," he said. "It's one piece within a worldwide epidemic of police brutality."
The Criminal Justice Center is located at 210 W. Temple St. Mehserle's hearing will be on the ninth floor in department 104.
Related article:
• Bay Area Activists Bring 'Small Axe' to L.A. With Trial of Oakland Cop Pending
Thandisizwe Chimurenga is an Assistant Editor at the L.A. Watts Times.
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