I followed the postings here last night regarding the riots in my hometown, Oakland. I originally posted the much commented diary with videos of the Oscar Grant shooting in Fruitvale BART.
I was born and raised in East Oakland and witnessed many strange, bizarre, and just plain scary moments with police in my youth. It wasn't until I finally met honest, decent cops that my faith was restored. There are many good cops out there who are people just like you and me.
Though I strongly support the message of protest, I can see no real lasting change from riots.
Riots do not make anybody listen, but they are signs of hopelessness and anger.
We are better to use anger not as bombs or fires, but as focused attacks that will truly bring justice and satisfaction.
Oakland Police Dept should have jurisdiction over BART police.
Bring Officer Mehserle to justice.
It's real simple for us to do something MEANINGFUL about this.
Contact your public officials. (emails and contact below the fold)
They must bring criminal charges against Officer Mehserle and set up an independent investigator.
I'm not asking for convictions, I just want a fair trial by his peers.
Let your public officials know how you feel.
Contact Rep. Barbara Lee (510) 763-0370
Contact the Citizen Police Review Board 510.238.3159
Email Mayor Dellums (officeofthemayor@oaklandnet.com) and City Council member Ignacio De La Fuente (idelafuente@oakland.net), Fruitvale is his district. I'm working on BART contacts if you'd like to email.
Hit BART where it truly hurts them: the pocketbook.
I love public transit, so they better fix this soon.