Defense: BART Shooting Cop Meant To Use Taser

I think he meant to taser the guy.

Notice how the other cop starts to get off the victim just prior to the shot. Like he didnt want to get shocked also.

Hi,

IMHO He had no need to use the teaser in the first place.
The guy was cooperating and was doing everything he was asked to do.

The cop should go to jail regardless.

reply to post by rcwj75


I will answer your question with a question. Why do all the police officers who deal drugs, abuse their wives and families, or take place in any illicit activity do what they do? I imagine it is the sense of safety and immunity that a badge and gun give them. Why did those cops in D.C. steal toys from the marines(toys for tots), maybe because they know that their superiors will do nothing when they get caught(except blame the press for making them look bad).
On topic, if he was innocent, why did he quit the force so fast?

[edit on 1-2-2009 by g raj]

Originally posted by g raj
I will answer your question with a question. Why do all the police officers who deal drugs, abuse their wives and families, or take place in any illicit activity do what they do? I imagine it is the sense of safety and immunity that a badge and gun give them. Why did those cops in D.C. steal toys from the marines(toys for tots), maybe because they know that their superiors will do nothing when they get caught(except blame the press for making them look bad).

Because we are just like you...HUMAN. We have wants, needs, desires, dreams..we also have insanity, stupidy, ego's, etc.... Thats why some cops do bad things...for THE SAME REASON normal people do bad things...because we are ALL human. I will never make an excuse for officers who behave in the manor you have mentioned or in other ways. My job is hard enough to do it the right way without bad apples....

On topic, if he was innocent, why did he quit the force so fast?

Because there is NO escape. No matter if this was a TRUE accident he is already convicted in the eyes of all cop haters, minorities, etc... They preach about wanting things done fairly, and without bias..but when the tables are turned notice how they DO NOT walk the walk! This cop from the moment he pulled the trigger on his weapon knew his life is over. So what do scared people do...they run..they try to run away from the issue at hand and hope it isn't as bad as they already know it is. I carry a weapon and taser...I know the difference after 7 years...BUT..I will say..under stress, heartrate up, tunnel vision, adrenaline rushing...its VERY easy to overlook what seems so simple to those sitting on their couch or chairs judging.

All I can say is this....unless this cop was an outright scumbag...I cannot believe he just reached down, drew his service weapon and shot this man in the back to kill him. If he did...he deserves the needle...but from all FACTUAL accounts...NOT person bias BS....this was a mistake..and boy is he gonna pay....

1. He will never be a cop again...the media attention alone makes him unhireable. Plus making that kind of mistake is a true liability to have on your roster...so law enforcement career is now over.
2. He will face a HUGE civil suit from the family.
3. The BART agency will most likely NOT cover any legal fees he has to get..so the bill he will have at the end of this...yeah he will not be doing to well
4. He has to live with the mistake of killing a man. Its one thing to kill in defense of yourself or another. It's another thing to kill in the time of WAR, but damn its definitly a whole new ballgame when you accidently shoot a man and know it wasn't meant to happen.
5. He will be labled a racist...no matter his intent or ACTUAL personal belief...he will be a racist until the day he dies.
6. I'm sure he will endure days and days of threats, damage to property, etc by the people who think doing that is excusable...

the list just goes on....Watching that video....I truly believe what I saw was a rookie cop get caught up in the moment...he was stressed, adrenaline dump at full tilt, not very experianced in it all and when his brain told him to pull the taser, his hand and eyes weren't on the same page...and by the time they caught up to one another...it was WAY to late!


EDIT TO ADD: I call him a rookie because at only 2 years experiance..your still VERY green...especially as a BART officer. 2 years in NYC, Philly, LA, Atlanta, etc as a beat officer...thats a WHOLE new level and your experiance/incidents prove that.




[edit on 2/2/2009 by rcwj75]

I give you a star for your realistic approach to the fact that there can be bad elements in law enforcement. Many would rather turn a blind eye to these occurrences, or say sometimes you gotta break the law to enforce the law. We will see what the future holds for this man. What would you think if the picture i linked to at the bottom of the fourth page turns out to be taken on the night of the shooting? I see no taser on his left side as has been used as an excuse. Granted this may not be from that night, some would argue it is not the ex-officer in question, but if it is, this could have some serious implications.

Alright....here I am... I have you on your belly, and my buddies have you held down on the floor....
what to do next....hmm...lets tazer him(might as well while we are at it)...

So I grab my Tazer..aim it at the back of his head...I align my sights since I dont want to Tazer any of my friends who are holding this non-cooperative young man down...

So here I am...then I go for the safety...wow, this doesnt really look like the tazer I was issued and have been carrying around for god knows how long on my side...even the safety is different, this almost looks like a real gun...

Oh well..Line up my sights...flip my tricky safety that Im not used to...and shoot.

Wow, it was even louder than what I thought my tazer would have been, and theres a lot more blood. hmm...

Oh crap I pulled the wrong weapon!! Im innocent!! Thank god Ima cop, I might actually get away with this.

Okay, so today we get an article concerning Officer Pirone's involvement. If you don't recall, more unedited versions of the scene show Pirone punching Grant right before the force him to the ground and shoot him.

Here is the article: www.insidebayarea.com...

Pirone's attorney states that Pirone was simply responding with force after being provoked and some knee attempts by Grant. Pirone's attorney said that the punch (which he called a forearm, stating that it was intentionally delivered as a forearm blow so to not be as powerful as an actual fist) was delivered in an effort to protect himself and a female Officer from Oscar Grant.

LOL! You know, there's nothing actually funny about anything here. But sometimes the only thing you can do is laugh right? Sometimes you laugh in disgust, sometimes you laugh at amazement, for better or worse. So forgive my LOL.

Anyway, here is a link to the clip. You tell me if Oscar Grant was fighting with the police as stated by Pirone's attorney: www.youtube.com...

To me, it looks like the female officer is attempting to handcuff someone, and puts his hand out against his friend as to say, "hey, wait a minute"..At that point, Pirone comes from the left side after handcuffing another man and walks directly up to Grant and grabs him with both arms and pushes him against the wall. Grant seems to lose his balance, and Pirone delivers the punch.

Does anyone see anything different? Does anyone seeing Grant delivering knees as an attempt to assault the police as stated by the attorney?

reply to post by bizone


Nope, I see exactly what you see, unprovoked police violence, spin it how you want, Officer Pirone crossed the line, now, after his attorneys' statement, it appears it will be standard cop procedure, LIE in court.

RCWJ75, after seeing this Pirone incident happen mins before the shooting, now observing his intentions to cover it up, do you still think his testimony of Mehserle holds any water? Do any of them have any "good cop" credibility left? Think about their actions prior to and after the shooting coupled with an ATS member testimony (friend brutalized by BART), the whole thing stinks.

I still dont believe Mehserle meant to kill him, but have a hard time believing the accounts thus far. Call it bias or generalising but I'm not going to take any cops' word on anything, not as long as, things like lying on affadavits to get search warrants are common practice.

the man is a stone cold killer live by the sword die by the gun