An internal investigation by BART revealed new details about what happened the night Oscar Grant was shot by BART police at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland in 2009.
The internal report created 10 years ago calls into question the defense of former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle.
He was convicted of shooting and killing 22-year-old passenger Oscar Grant in the back while he was handcuffed on the ground of the Fruitvale Bart platform on New Year’s Day.
In an incident that was all caught on video, Mehserle said he meant to tase Grant but mistakenly pulled out his gun instead.
The report indicates that Mehserle can be seen trying to draw his gun two times then finally can be seen looking at his hand on the gun holster to watch the gun come out.
The report reads deadly force was not justified under the circumstances. The internal investigation also found that Mehserle, who was 27 at the time and had only been on the force for two years, had used force on the job six times the year prior — more than any of his colleagues on the platform that night.
The report also blames former officer Anthony Pirone for escalating what had initially been reports of a fight on a train at Fruitvale by calling Grant the n-word, punching him in the face and kneeing him in the head. Pirone wasn’t charged but was fired.
Mehserle was released after spending about a year behind bars.
The Mercury News and the San Francisco Chronicle obtained the report through a public records request under the state’s new police transparency law which makes internal records pertaining to incidents like these available to the public.
Source: NBC Bay Area