black…MYstory

Last month, I posted a story about Robbie Tolan.  Tolan, a minor league baseball player and son of form MLB player Bobbie Tolan, was shot in his own driveway in an affluent Houston suburb by a police officer who claims to have believed he was driving a stolen vehicle.

The circumstance surrounding the shooting, as well as the races of those involved. are raising clear questions about whether or not Tolan was racially profiled. Since that time, though not willing to come out and say that her city has a problem, the mayor of the suburb of Bellaire, TX, has already hired an outside consultant to look into traffic data in her town to determine if there is a pattern of racial profiling.

More importantly, perhaps, is that Robbie Tolan and his family will get a chance to tell their side of the story to the nation.  Tomorrow night, on HBO’s Real Sports, there will be a segment highlighting this incident.  Here’s some of what was discussed in that interview:

(Sgt. Jeff) Cotton “never said a word. He never said ‘shut up.’ He never said ‘get down’ or ‘stay down.’ He never said a word. He picked his gun, he took his gun and he just shot him,’” she said.

Robert Tolan told Gumbel that he found it difficult to return to the family home because “even though they cleaned it up, I can see the blood on the floor and on the concrete. I mean, I see everything that night.”

His parents remain critical of the manner in which the case has been handled by Bellaire officials and skeptical about their chances for a just resolution.

Referring to general comments by Bellaire Mayor Cindy Siegel in support of police, Marian Tolan said, “We’re residents of Bellaire. They didn’t serve and protect us. We weren’t passing through. We weren’t visiting. We’ve lived here.”

Real Sports will air Tuesday, February 17,2009.  Check your local listings for times.

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If you were like me, you were horrified when you saw the footage of the killing of Oscar Grant III on the morning of New Year’s day at the hands of a police officer in an Oakland, CA train station.

The officer who shot Grant, Johannes Mehserle, abrubtly resigned right before he was to speak with internal affairs regarding this incident.

The latest on this case is that  Johannes Mehserle has been arrested in Nevada on a fugitive warrant.

The charge: suspicion of murder.

From my perspective, it seems pretty clear what happened but, as we know, what the public perceives and what happens in a courtroom are separate and distinct things.  However, in this case, I hope that justice prevails.

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Once again, we have a case of a young black man dying under suspicion circumstances in an encounter with police.  This time, it was in New Orleans, Lousiana, in the early morning of January 1, 2009.

Adolph Grimes III had relocated to Texas with his fiancée in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  He rushed back to New Orleans on New Year’s Eve of this year, along with his fiancée and 17-month-old son, to ring in the new year with his family.

According to his father, Adolph Grimes Jr., his son made it with just seconds to spare.

The family was celebrating at Adolph Grimes III’s grandmother’s house.  At approximately 3am, Grimes walked out of his grandmother’s house and was waiting in his car for his cousin when 9 undercover cops drove up and surrounded the car.

Next, there was a barrage of shooting.

Police are saying that Grime started the shooting but, police shot at Grimes a total of 48 times.  Grimes was hit 14 times, with 12 of those rounds hitting him in the back, killing him.

Grimes did have a handgun on him which, according to family members, was legally registered.  He also had a shotgun and some rounds in his trunk.  Grimes had no criminal history and had graduated from one of New Orleans’ most prestigious high schools.

A lot of questions need answering.  First of all, 9 undercover, plain-clothes officers surrounded the vehicle.  Did they identify themselves as police officers?  Secondly, do they have ballistics test showing that Grimes even fired his weapon?  If so, how are we to know if he indeed fired first or simply fired back?  Thirdly, how did Grimes go from being inside his vehicle to dying block away from his grandmother’s?  Perhaps, could he have thought that he was being carjacked as opposed to being arrested. Did he run for that reason?

My questions, obviously, are only speculation.  By some of the comments I’ve read on the articles above, there are people who want to blame Grimes because he owned a gun, something that many white men in this country do, often in even greater abundance.  The fact is, there seemed to be no reason for those officers to approach that vehicle in the way that they did.

Some are comparing this killing to that of Oscar Grant III but, I actually compare it to the killing of Sean Bell.  In both instances, you have the shooting victim encountering plain-clothes, undercover cops, who may not have identified themselves as such.  In both instances, these men died in a hail of bullets.  In both instances, these men were apparently doing nothing illegal And, in both instances, these men left fiancées, children, a host of family members and a lot of unanswered questions behind.

Let’s hope that, unlike the Sean Bell case, truth and justice prevail.

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Today, IndyMedia released new and clearer footage of the shooting of Oscar Grant.  This video was taken at a much closer range and shows, in much more detail, what transpired in the moments before, during and after, the killing of Oscar Grant III.

Thanks to RawStory.com for the video.  It can be viewed below:

 

 Oscar Grant Shooting - New Footage: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Fortunately, today, Robbie Tolan is still alive but, his potential baseball career is in jeopardy.  On December 31, 2008, Tolan and his cousing were returning to the family’s home after making a late-night run to get some food. They were driving Tolan’s parents’ SUV and had pulled into the driveway when they say a man with a gun and a flashlight approached them.

According to the two men, the officer did not identify himself.  The officer and his partner had both men on lie on the ground.  In the meantime, Tolan’s parents heard a commotion (it was in their own driveway, after all) and came out to see what was happening.  Police will only say that an “altercation” occured.  The family says that Tolan’s mother was pushed up against a wall.  The family says that when Tolan tried to lean up to see what was happening, he was shot in the chest.  The bullet went through his lung and lodged in his liver.  Tolan, the son of former Major League player Bobby Tolan, is currently recovering in a Houston hospital and the officer in question, Sgt. Jeff Cotton, and his partner are on administrative leave after the shooting.

However, this incident has sparked serious concerns about this being a case of racial profiling. The family resides in the prominent, mostly-white suburb of Bellaire.  Police officials deny that race was a factor but, many are asking what prompted the officers to suspect that the vehicle was stolen.

Both men were unarmed.

The family has retained legal counsel and is asking that charges be filed against the officer.

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Yesterday, it was announced that Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle resigned from the force, right before he was to interview with internal affairs investigators over the shooting death of Oscar Grant III.

Grant was shot and killed by Mehserle early New Year’s day.  At the time, Grant was face-down, pinned by another officer when Mehserle stood to his feet and fired the fatal shot that entered Oscar Grant’s lower back, ricocheted off the pavement and entered his lungs, killing him.

Grant was a 22-year-old supermarket worker and father of a 4-year-old daughter.  It is not clear if Oscar Grant was even involved in the fight to which BART police were responding.  His shooting death was captured by various citizens with cell phones.

Mehserle’s resignation means that he will not have to speak with internal affairs investigators however, his legal defense will continue to be paid for out of a statewide fund for police officers.

In the meantime, the Alameda County D.A. will be deciding soon as to whether or not criminal charges will be pursued.

On a related note, yesterday,  a protest over the shooting turned into a “mini-riot” when a small group broke away from the protest and vandalized police cruisers and storefronts.  A total of 14 arrests were made.

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In my lifetime, I have read many headlines like the one I posted.  Whether it’s Timothy Thomas or Roger Owensby from Cincinnati, Ohio; or Sean Bell or Amadou Diallo in New York; or, now, Oscar Grant III of Oakland, CA.

Video has surfaced showing what appears to be an arrest of 22-year-old Oscar Grant III, at approximately 2am on New Year’s Day 2009.  Police responding to a call on a BART train.  It is not clear if Grant was involved in this fight.  However, citizens with camera phones captured video of Grant’s arrest.

Just prior to his death, Grant is held down face-first by two officers, with other officers nearby.  There appears to be a struggle and one of the officers stands up, draws his weapon and shoots Grant in the back.  Apparently, the bullet, after going through his lower back, ricocheted off the ground and struck him in his lungs, killing him.

It is still unclear why the officer chose to shoot Grant.  Grant had no weapons and police had him pinned to the pavement.  But, instead of grabbing his cuffs, the officer reached for his gun.

Oscar Grant III leaves behind a 4-year-old daughter.

His family is seeking answers and has filed a $25 million lawsuit against BART’s police department and is asking prosecutors to consider murder charges for the officer who who Oscar Grant III.

The video of the shooting can be viewed here.

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Last year, I posted a piece about how the NYPD was going overboard in their “stop-and-frisk” policy where, in 2006, some 500,000 people were stopped and searched on the street, allegedly in search of illegal weapons.  Under this policy, black people were five times more likely than whites to be subjected to these searches.  An overwhelming majority of those stopped and frisked were innocent people.

The AOL Black Voice Blog has posted a story about a black New York Post reporter losing his job because of his lawsuit against the NYPD over arresting him under this policy.

Reporter Leonard Blair says that he was stopped, frisked and arrested without knowing the charges against him.  However, while behind bars, he informed the arresting officer that he was a reporter with the New York Post.  The red-faced officer then let him go.

Blair’s lawsuit must have been too much for the paper that supported the cops in the Sean Bell Killing. Mind you, this paper is owned by the same guy who owns Fox News, Rupert Murdoch.  So, you know where they stand on the rights and concerns of black people.

Blair’s account of his ordeal is in the video below:

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We know that four NYPD officers will not face charges in the killing of Sean Bell on the eve of his wedding. Bell, as well as other passengers in his car were unarmed when he died in a hail of 50 bullets fired into the vehicle.

Now, just a few days shy of the deadline to do so, the NYPD has filed departmental charges against the officers, as well as three others. It should be of little surprise that, given the fallout of this killing, that there were some clear violations that occurred.

The three detectives who stood trial in the case — Detectives Gescard F. Isnora, Michael Oliver and Marc Cooper — were charged with “discharging their firearms outside of department guidelines,” said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman. Detective Isnora was also charged with taking enforcement action while working as an undercover officer instead of letting officers who were present, and not working undercover, take control.

Lt. Gary Napoli, the ranking officer at the scene, faces internal charges of failing to supervise the operation, Mr. Browne said. Sergeant Hugh McNeil and Detective Robert Knapp, of the Crime Scene Unit, were also charged: the detective with failing to thoroughly process the crime scene and the sergeant with failing to ensure a thorough processing was done.

Police Officer Michael Carey, was charged with discharging his firearm outside of department guidelines. Another officer involved in the shooting, Detective Paul Headley, was not charged because a review of the evidence currently available did not support charges, officials said.

If the charges, known as administrative charges, are upheld, the officers could face discipline ranging from loss of pay to retraining to firing. But the internal investigation has been suspended as federal prosecutors weigh civil rights charges in the case.

Well, I still hold out hope for federal charges but, at the very least, these officers should not be on the streets with the power and authority to take another human life.

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Kudos to the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In a surprisingly swift action, four police officers were fired for the brutal beating of three suspects. Four others were disciplined, including one sergeant being demoted. In all, a total of 15 officers were involved in the incident.

This incident came to light after video of the incident, filmed from a helicopter, made the press. The three men in question were suspects in a triple shooting. With that being said, they should have been arrested. However, what the video clearly shows is that officer pulled them from the vehicle and immediately began punching, kicking and beating the men.

Some will say that these three had it coming to them. If they did indeed shoot three people, I’d be hard-pressed to shed tears, either. But, police officers are expected to not act in this way and to, instead, do their job in a professional manner, when possible. In this instance, they had overwhelming numbers on their side to subdue the suspects without resorting to the very criminal behavior that they are charged with combating.

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