On New Years Eve a white BART cop shot Oscar Grant-an unarmed, subdued Black Man-in his back and killed him. White cops killing unarmed young Black Men nothing new. What is new is how often these killings are recorded, and how easy it is to spread via Traditional Media what was once kept within communities of color.
Below is a video (WARNING GRAPHIC KILLING FOOTAGE) of Oscar Grant's last moments alive.
Brutal unnecessary tragic death of a young father. We knew that. But as the trial is underway we have now learned that the officer next to the shooter, Tony Pirone (who did nothing to stop the killing) shouted "Bitch Ass Nig#er" at Oscar moments before Merserle pulling the trigger.
Matier & Ross write:
The sound-enhanced tape shows Pirone delivering a shoulder chop to Grant and bringing him to the ground. Pirone can be heard saying twice, "Bitch-ass n-, right?"
Prosecutors showed the tape in court on the last day of Mehserle’s preliminary hearing, but the headlines went to the judge’s decree hours later that there was enough evidence to send Mehserle to trial for murder.
Cell phone footage recorded on the train clearly shows not only the shooting of a man who was no threat to the officers or anyone else, but now audio records this racist epithet as well.
Hate crime? Murder?
When you reduce a man to a racist slur, how much farther do you have to go to take his life?
Here is a link to the SFGATE story:
http://www.sfgate.com/...