Johannes Mehserle Trial Moved To L.A.

There's two reasons I approach any conversation about the death of Oscar Grant with caution. The first being the most obvious, I am a African-American male from Oakland. The second, I was actually at Fruitvale Bart on that faithful night. I heard the gun shot that took the life of Grant. I've always tried to look at both sides of the story and not seem bias. Police brutality and shootings seem to be the hot topics of the year, there was recently the 16 year old teen who shot and killed in Richmond. In connection with a car-jacking, just this week a San Jose State student was tasered and beating after incident which the student had threatened a roommate with a knife. Plus how can I forget the shootings of four on-duty police officers in Oakland earlier this year.








This week I along with others were happy with the decision to move the trial to Los Angeles County. But it made me thing about another high-profile case that took center stage in Los Angeles. That's right the Rodney King case.



Which effected the whole entire city. Oscar Grant's situation has it similarities to King's but there are certain differences. Oscar Grant very well could be my generation's version of the Rodney King. With lessons we could all learn from. This trial will probably see the same media attention and coverage that King's trial did, which I think helps the overrall cause. Many people outside of the Bay Area and California, probably experienced limited media coverage of what happen. For those who get exposed to the story, probably have their minds and opinions set.



Earlier this year we saw protests for Oscar Grant that gave way to a few individuals destroying businesses and vehicles in the downtown Oakland area. Again very similar to what was seen on television after the Rodney King verdict was handed down. This is perfect example of what I mean by "lessons" we could all learn from. That method handling the situation gets us nowhere. It only further the argument of those who believe that people in Oakland, " Don't know how to act" or that they " Don't know how to act civilized". That we must hold ourselves accountable for our action on this journey to obtain justice.







There's a lot on the line in this trial, not just Johannes Mehserle being brought to justice for a crime that he committed. But there still the social and racial and undertones that we had to deal with during the Rodney King trial. If just for one moment, we could keep in the back of minds the mistakes made back in 1991. I think that this time around the outcome will be much different.