Spent the day in the city yesterday and talked to a few people while riding the train and wandering around. Seems there are a few people on edge about what is going to happen in the next few days when a verdict is reached in a trial that has now gone to the jury.
It stems from an incident on New Year’s Day 2009 when a young black man, Oscar Grant, was shot and killed by a white cop, Johannes Mehserle. Several officers were there and it was caught on many cell phone videos, because it happened in Oakland on a train platform in front of many BART passengers. The officer thought he was pulling his Taser and firing it, but it turned out to be his gun. The other side says it was plain and simple murder.
It's up to the jury to decide and even though the trial was moved to LA, there will be some backlash whichever way this goes. High unemployment and frustration could easily lead to an opportunistic mob mentality. We see it happening too easily these days from minor things like sporting events to political events. What will happen in this case?
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