Shooting of Oscar Grant (Essay Sample)

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Shooting of Oscar Grant
Oscar grant was fatally shot on Jan 1, 2009 by a BART Police officer known as Johannes Mehserle. The police officer was among other officers responding to a fight reported on a crowded train, which was heading to East Bay from West Oakland BART Station. Oscar Grant had boarded the train after attending the New Year’s celebrations at Embarcadero in San Francisco. Before the train reached East Bay, about twelve people in the train were involved in a physical altercation, and as a result, the train operator alerted BART police to pull off the involved parties from the train.
The first officers to arrive at the scene were Marysol Domenici and Tony Pirone. On arrival, they pulled Oscar Grant together with his friends and several other men off the train. According to a video recorded by KTVU-TV, Pirone hit Grant on the face as he ordered him and two other suspects to line up against a wall. At that instance, Johannes Mehserle accompanied by four other officers arrived at the scene. Pirone directed Mehserle to handcuff Grant and several other suspects who were still lying against a wall. Grant tried to resist the arrest, and attempted to stand up. Consequently, both Mehserle and Pirone tried to force him to the ground, commanding him to put his hands behind his back. Grant did not comply with the police orders, and as a result, the officers were irritated.
According to one of the witnesses, after grant refused to be arrested, Mehserle took his gun and shot him on the back. After firing the shot, Mehserle was overheard by passengers shouting several times “Oh my God!” and he appeared tensed. The bullet entered Grant's back and exited through his front side puncturing his lungs. He was rushed to Highland Hospital in Oakland, but succumbed to the gunshot seven hour later.
During the trial, lawyers for Mehserle claimed that he mistakenly used his gun instead of his Taser. They also argued that Grant did not obey the officers' commands and before the shooting he had tried to grab a gun making the police officer to respond in self-defense. The accused police officer, Mehserle, was later on acquitted of all charges. However, he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, and as a result, he was sentenced to two years in jail.
From my perspective, Johannes Mehserle conduct was totally unethical. As a responsible police officer, Mehserle should have requested the other police o...