Tag: John Burris

Open letter to San Francisco officials from the San Francisco Gray Panthers: Tasers do not belong in any police force.

Activists are calling on Oakland residents and all who love justice to come to the Oakland City Council meeting at 7 p.m. tonight, Tuesday, March 8, at City Hall to demand that Officer Jimenez, killer of Jody Woodfox and Andrew Moppin, not be returned to duty.

Another unarmed Black brother, Derrick Jones, 37, barbershop owner and father of an infant girl, met a violent death on Monday night, shot and killed by two Oakland police officers while “fleeing.” March for justice Thursday 3 p.m. from Bancroft & Seminary.

Supporters of killer cop Johannes Mehserle rallied in San Jose Aug. 2 with no counter-demonstrators. KTVU was there and last week presented two features on Mehserle’s life story, presumably intended to soften his public image and engender sympathy for him as the Nov. 5 sentencing date approaches. Justice for Oscar Grant supporters will protest in the parking lot outside KTVU on Thursday, Aug. 12, 12:30 p.m., at 2 Jack London Square, Oakland. Be there to honor Black August! And Oscar Grant supporters are asked to demand the maximum sentence for Mehserle.

Oscar Grant’s mother Wanda Johnson spoke unexpectedly, adding her thoughts at the close of the family’s press conference. “My son was murdered. He was murdered. He was murdered. He was murdered,” she said, calm but forceful, enunciating every word and looking straight into the dozens of news cameras that had gathered outside the courthouse.

Everybody out for the MASS PROTEST FOR JUSTICE FOR OSCAR GRANT all day Monday, June 14, starting at 7 a.m. outside the LA Courthouse at 210 W. Temple at Broadway. Demand murder conviction of Johannes Mehserle, the first ever Cali cop to stand trial for an on-duty murder. Keep the courtroom packed throughout the trial. This is our chance to stop the militarized police occupation of Black and Brown communities. We are ALL Oscar Grant!

Is Tony Pirone attempting to avoid testifying in Johannes Mehserle’s trial for the murder of Oscar Grant? The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office has filed papers to force former BART Police Officer Tony Pirone – who was fired April 22 – to testify in the murder trial of Johannes Mehserle, set to begin with jury selection next week.

More than 40 people representing a diverse cross section of Los Angeles communities met at Chuco’s Justice Center Jan. 3 to plan for the press conference and protest on Jan. 8. Coming together as the Los Angeles Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant, they were united by at least two common threads: outrage at the slaying of Grant and a belief that Mehserle should be convicted of murder.

KCBS calls it "Another Viral BART Police Confrontation," referring to the now world famous video of a BART officer shooting passenger Oscar Grant in the back as he lay face down on a BART platform at 2 a.m. New Year's Day. The new video, shot Saturday night, shows another BART officer assaulting a passenger almost as viciously. STORY UPDATED TUESDAY, NOV. 24.

They shot my grandson three times – two times in his back. That must have turned him around. Then they shot him in his face just above his right eye. That was the cause of death, according to the Coroner’s Office. So we know one thing: They shot him in the back first. How was he threatening the police if he was running from them? That’s what I want to know.

Maafa 2009 was chillier than usual, but our hearts were certainly no less warmed by the ancestors’ tight embrace as supplicants made their way through the Middle Passage to the Wolosodon rhythms, the slave march through the Doors of No Return to the beach where each person held a piece of string – symbolic of a connection … a philosophical connection to the homeland, family and history.

On New Year's morning BART police officer Johannes Mehserle fired his gun at point blank range into Oscar Grant's back, killing him as he lay face down on the train platform, hands behind him. A preliminary hearing is now underway to determine whether Mehserle will be charged with murder or whether the charges against him will be lowered.

Shout out to First Lady Michelle Obama, who presented the bust of Queen Mother Sojourner Truth, a woman who experienced first hand the hardships of slavery, yet emerged strong, so strong she had to remind America she too was a woman, a woman deserving all the respect and honor reserved for privileged white women.

Patrick Gonzalez and Tony Pirone, we promise you a rapid promotion! Johannes Mehserle, not to worry, Buddy! We'll cover all your legal fees. We'll get you out of that slump with flying colors and added stripes on your bloody sleeve!

Police are virtually an occupying military force in Black urban centers. Their presence will neither eliminate the plague of rampant crime nor address the underlying disease of extreme impoverishment.

On March 21, Lovelle Mixon, 26, was murdered by Oakland police after allegedly killing four of them on MacArthur Blvd off of 73rd Avenue in East Oakland. Listen to JR's Block Report interview with his family - his mother, Athena, his wife, Amara, and her sister, Alicia - broadcast March 30 on KPFA's Flashpoints at http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/49609.

An Oakland BART police officer shot an unarmed Black man, Oscar Grant, while he lay face down on the ground and was fully cooperating. Protest Wednesday, Jan. 7, 3-7pm, Fruitvale BART, Oakland.