This is Oscar grant.
In the early morning hours of New Year’s Day 2009, Oscar Juliuss Grant III was fatally shot by a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer at the Fruitvale Train Station in Oakland, California. Twelve years later his family has yet to receive justice.
Sign the petition now to demand charges against Anthony Pirone for his role in the murder of Oscar Grant.
On January 1, 2009, Oscar Grant, an unarmed Black man was snatched from a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train by BART Officer Anthony Pirone.
A just-released investigative report—concealed for 11 years—outlines how Pirone slammed Oscar against the concrete wall causing significant brain injury; punched Oscar causing “trauma” to his face; jumped down on Oscar with his full, 250-pound body weight, pushing Oscar face-down onto the concrete platform and pressing his knee on Oscar’s neck; admittedly called him a “nigger” and a “bitch-ass nigger.”
Pirone then called over BART Officer Johannes Mehserle, who shot Oscar in the back while Pirone pinned him down. Oscar died hours later, and Pirone has yet to be indicted for his role in this crime.
Despite this recently-revealed evidence, DA O’Malley still refuses to charge Pirone. The Grant family is seeking justice in this case of yet another Black man killed by racist police. We join the family in demanding the DA immediately file criminal charges against Anthony Pirone for the felony murder of Oscar Grant, III.
ABOUT THE CASE
Oscar was the peacemaker on the platform and was still killed by rogue cops.
In the early morning hours of New Year’s Day 2009, Oscar Juliuss Grant III was fatally shot by former Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police Officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland, California. Responding to reports of a fight on a crowded BART train returning from San Francisco, and based on only a general description of those involved in the fight, several BART police officers led by then BART Officer, Anthony Pirone, detained Grant on the platform of the Fruitvale BART Station. By the time officer Mehserle arrived at the chaotic scene, BART Officer Pirone was restraining Oscar, who was unarmed and lying face down on the platform. Based on the belief that Oscar was reaching into his waistband while being restrained by that other BART Officer, Mehserle claims he intended to draw his taser, but instead drew his 9mm pistol, and discharged a single fatal round striking Oscar in the chest. Oscar was pronounced dead the next morning at Highland Hospital in Oakland.
A son and father loved by all.
Oscar Grant was a native of Hayward, California. He was a beautiful father and loving son. Due in part to his family-oriented ways, Oscar was everyone’s dream child. One of his aspirations was to move his family to a beautiful and safe neighborhood. He had a dream to one day own his own barbershop.
Oscar loved helping people. He loved competing in sports. His favorite sport was basketball, a sport in which he became an outstanding player. He loved being the leader on the team and his teammates seemed to always look to him for leadership and guidance. When Oscar was murdered, his absence left a gaping hole in the lives of those who loved and admired him.
what the world saw.
At the time of Oscar’s murder, the police department overseeing the case immediately began to criminalize and dehumanize him to justify his senseless murder. Instead, they did everything in their power to humanize the shooter, rookie Officer Johannes Mehserle, as a likable and wonderful officer. They humanized Mehserle to the degree that he made an honest yet fatal mistake in pulling out his weapon instead of his taser.
Thankfully many of the commuters on the BART train pulled out their cameras and began to record the brutal and excessively forced altercation they witnessed from the police. These commuters immediately uploaded their phone video recordings to Facebook and other social media platforms allowing the nation to bear witness to the inhumane justice those officers chose to exhibit.
A sham of A trial.
During the trial, Grant’s family believed Deputy DA David Stein wanted to use BART Officer Anthony Pirone, as a state witness to testify against Officer Mehserle. Pirone never testified to the facts of Officer Mehserle's shooting which backfired for the DA’s office. Deputy DA Stein stated that since the testimony from Pirone did not work, they would have to charge him for murder after the trial of Officer Johannes Mehserle.
At the end of the trial, Grant’s family went to DA Nancy O’Malley to file charges against Pirone. O’Malley stated to the family that since the trail had been moved to Los Angeles from Oakland, that financial cost was too enormous and the county could not file felony murder charges against Pirone at this time. Approximately a year and a half later, Grant’s family went back to the DA’s office to file felony charges against Pirone and was told that no charges could be filed until Pirone came back home for the military.
Some time around 2014-2015 when Pirone arrived back home, the Grant family again went back to DA O’Malley to have charges filed against Pirone and was then told that the judge had done such a mess with handling the case that they would not win so, they chose to charge Pirone with unemployment fraud.
Accountability is a must! Communities uniting to bring about accountability is a must!
The world should know that these senseless and brutal police killings will not stop until we start holding officers accountable and having officers arrested and charged for the unjustifiable murders they commit. Oscar did not have a weapon, nor was he on drugs or intoxicated. He was the peacemaker on the platform and still was killed by these rogue cops.
After agreeing to reopen the Oscar Grant case, DA Nancy O'Malley, later announced there was not enough evidence to charge former BART Officer, Anthony Pirone, for his involvement in Oscar's murder. Oakland City Council members along with BART directors, condemned the DA's decision to not press charges.
Now the Grant family will dispute the DA's findings. The fight for justice is NOT over.