Police Say Many Mehserle Protesters Arrested Not From Oakland
OAKLAND (CBS/AP/BCN) -- Oakland officials hit the streets of their city Saturday to assess the damage to the community resulting from protests that started after former BART Officer Johannes Mehserle was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for fatally shooting Oscar Grant III.
Police arrested 152 protesters, including seven juveniles, on suspicion of crimes including vandalism, unlawful assembly and disturbing the peace.
Police say 56 of protesters arrested Friday night were from outside the city.
The majority of those arrested were in their 20s and 30s, Officer Jeff Thomason said. Charges will be filed after a report is completed by investigators who are reviewing photographs and video of the protesters.
The protesters began gathering shortly after a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge sentenced Mehserle to a two-year prison sentence Friday afternoon for fatally shooting a 22-year-old unarmed father. Mehserle could have faced anything from probation to 14 years in state prison.
Following the sentencing, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums said he understood the community's angry reactions to Mehserle's prison sentence for shooting Grant at the Fruitvale BART station in 2009, but he called for nonviolent protest.
Mehserle said he mistakenly used his gun instead of his Taser.
Community & Economic Development Agency employees were canvassing impacted businesses Saturday. They identified one business that had broken windows, according to city of Oakland officials. A few businesses were vandalized with graffiti.
Meantime, the attorney representing the relatives of Oscar Grant says he plans on following up with the U.S. Department of Justice and federal officials about its planned civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of Grant.
John Burris said Saturday the family is also preparing for a trial scheduled in May 2011 stemming from the multimillion dollar civil rights lawsuits filed against the Bay Area Rapid Transit District and the officers involved in the incident.
BART spokesman Linton Johnson declined to comment on the statements.
Burris says the family was disappointed in the sentence, but that the family had "some victories" because Mehserle is going to prison.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
