Thursday, January 8, 2009

Please, turn your attention to Oakland

I wanted to call everyone's attention to the fatal-shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant III on New Year's Day by a BART police officer.

If you haven't already seen the video, this cell phone video captures the shooting.



Grant was buried Wednesday in Lone Tree Cemetery in the hills of Hayward, where he lived. Mercury News covered his funeral.



Since the shooting there have been ongoing protests in Oakland. Wednesday night's protest escalated with some vandals looting, smashing windows, starting fires and damaging buildings and cars. 105 people were arrested, and some businesses are closing early Thursday for fear that there will be more property damage.

Here's protest footage from Wednesday night.



The officer who fired the fatal shot has since resigned. Community members voiced their outrage at the BART Board meeting Thursday and demanded that the investigation of the shooting be turned over to state and federal authorities.

What are your thoughts, reactions or plans? Share them below.

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