Unarmed, young, innocent and Black -Robbie Tolan, shot by police in his own driveway New Years Eve.

 It doesn't look like the year is off to a good start for us,

Oscar Grant was not the only casualty of a police bullet.

Are these cops trying to deliver a message?

It really is high time we got off our asses and

started demanding full accountability

by any means necessary.

According to family members, Robbie Tolan and 

his cousin were returning to Tolan's home in the 

mostly white Houston suburb of Bellaire in the early

 hours of December 31, when they were approached 

by officers who suspected the SUV they had just gotten 

out of was stolen.

Tolan's parents, who own the SUV, came out of the 

house to explain the situation. An altercation ensued 

and Tolan's mother was thrown against the garage 

door by an officer. According to Tolan's uncle, 

"Her son was on his back at the time, and he raised up and asked, 

'What are you doing to my mom?' and the officer shot him 

-- while he was on the ground."

see the complete article

see related post

Oakland 1968, 18 years Before Oscar Grant was born.

 The Black Panther Party was formed with the idea of

preventing these types of executions. The party was also

advocating the cooperation with Latino and White

organizations to create better conditions across the board.

Just how much has changed since then and how have these

changes affected the conditions we face today?

 We may as well get a short history lesson while we're reflecting

on the events of this week.

 

Black Panthers (1968) part 1

The Murder & Legacy of Bobby Hutton

Riots - Unrest in The Bay Area over Oscar Grant Slaying

 The is outrage being expressed in Oakland over the slaying of young

Oscar Grant.  The police are arresting people already, I can't help but 

think that if they had taken Grant's slayer into custody, if only for 

questioning, rather than giving him a paid leave some of this outrage 

may have been avoided.

 On the other hand, call me paranoid but I always have the nagging 

feeling that  rioting is exactly what the police wish to see happen

 then, like Grant's slayer, they get to play with all their toys. 

 I saw an interesting piece in the Mercury News

Unrest in Oakland has deep roots in city's history of race relations

This gives us an insight on the historical relations between 

minorities and the privileged citizens of the area.

 Another blog called When I Write had a local feel with the piece,

“Only in Cali where we riot not rally” - [Oscar Grant Protest Turns Ugly]

In the meantime Johannes Mehserle the office who shot and killed Grant

has quit his job with BART and left apparently left without saying 

anything to his bosses.

Protest Planned around Oscar Grant Murder

Protest BART Police Murder of Oscar Grant
Wednesday, January 7, 3 pm - 8 pm
Fruitvale BART

Don't forget to bring cells and video recorders.

Young unarmed Black father Oscar Grant killed by police

On January 1, 2009 A young Black father, Oscar Grant, was shot in the back by a Bay Area Rapid Transit Officer. This young man, mr. Grant according to all the witness reports I can find was lying quietly on his stomach with his hands behind his back cooperating fully with the police and the officer just took out his weapon and shot him in the back.

I wasn't personally on the scene so I can only pass on the the info I can find online. I welcome the comments of anyone who knows more about this case.

I hope we will all be watching this case carefully and trying to come together in order to bring an end to the fatal treatment of our young men
at the hands of the police. Usually when one fires his gun they all do so you can't tell who did the actual killing. This time apparently there is someone to hold accountable.



New Footage of Oakland Man Murdered By BART Cop
by Oakland Police Cop Watch Blog ( ORGANIZEOAKLAND [at] YAHOO.COM )
Tuesday Jan 6th, 2009 2:20 PM

Here is a youtube account of an eye witness who in fact recorded some of what she saw.

An audio account by Davey D, on Breakdown FM 

For more see this article in The Hinterland Gazette.

 (01-05) 22:30 PST PST Oakland -- Five days have passed since a BART police officer shot and killed an unarmed rider on a station platform, but the officer has not given a statement to investigators about what happened and the transit agency has apparently not forced him to do so.  read more...

 It's time for this type of nonsense to end folks, what an insult to Black Americans 

that Oscar  Grant's life means so little that they can be this lackadaisical about this

investigation.