The recent fatal police shooting of Oscar Grant, a 22 year old supermarket worker, was marked by a protest in Oakland on Wednesday. The protest began at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland. This is where BART police officer, Johannes Mehserle, shot to death 22-year old Oscar Grant ...story here .... video here.
Desley Brooks, councilwoman for East Oakland, called the shooting "an execution."
The protesters expressed outrage at discriminatory policing and abuse-of-power on the part of cops who are quick to reach for their guns. One protester described the killing of Grant as "a modern lynching."
After nightfall a group of about 200 protesters headed downtown and the protest began to heat up, drawing in hundreds of police in riot gear.
Memorial to Oscar Grant at Fruitvale Station
A demonstrator, Nia Sykes, said: "I feel like the night is going great. I feel like Oakland should make some noise."
The anger generated by the conduct of a percentage of US police who act more like gangsters than people entrusted to serve and protect, makes it surprising that rioting hasn't become a bigger feature of life in American cities.
Some property damage occurred during the Oakland protest. When a riot breaks out some indiscriminate damage usually occurs, it's the nature of a riot ... as one supporter of the Oakland protesters put it - "not nice." But what is "less nice" are cops who routinely abuse their authority, often exercising their power with a way-too-heavy emphasis on intimidation and force.
While the killing of Oscar Grant got the demonstrators out, they were also reacting to what they perceive as police abuse-of-power in general. It's the kind of frustration that builds up when people feel the official routes simply don't produce the required results.
It's not only people in places such as Oakland who are pissed off. I know of at least one American who said he wouldn't drive in certain parts of Texas. He was afraid he might get pulled over and be given "an old school beating."
There is something seriously wrong with policing in some jurisdictions in the US. As one contact stateside who lives in a certain precinct in Louisiana put it - "it's kind of like dealing with the local Gestapo."
