Friday, January 9, 2009

OAKLAND RISING


Events in the case since New Year's Day:

Jan. 1, about 2 a.m. - Reports of fighting between two groups on a BART train leaving the West Oakland Station prompt five transit agency police officers to intercept the Dublin-Pleasanton train at the Fruitvale Station and detain at least three young men, including 22-year-old Oscar Grant of Hayward, who was returning from a night of holiday revelry in San Francisco with friends.

Jan. 1, about 2:15 a.m. - Grant, unarmed, is shot by BART Officer Johannes Mehserle on the station platform. Police lead other men from the platform, but no one is charged in connection with the fight.

Jan. 1, 9:13 a.m. - Grant is pronounced dead at Highland Hospital in Oakland.

Jan. 1 - Mehserle, after being separated from other officers, after the shooting, confers with an attorney and declines to speak to BART investigators and Alameda County prosecutors.

Jan. 3 - John Burris, an attorney hired by Grant's family, says Grant was shot in the back while lying face down.

Jan. 4 - KTVU airs a video obtained from a BART rider who filmed the shooting on a cell phone from inside a train car. A second cell phone video emerges later. Both appear to support Burris' account.

Jan. 7 - Dozens of African American leaders and Oakland officials go to Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff's office, demanding a meeting. Orloff promises to move quickly toward a decision on possible charges for Mehserle.

Jan. 7, 11 a.m. - Mehserle's attorney turns in the officer's resignation letter. Funeral held for Grant.

Jan. 7, 3 p.m. - Several hundred people gather at the Fruitvale Station for a protest. Eventually, a group peels off and heads toward downtown Oakland.

Jan. 7, nighttime - For several hours, a mob breaks car and store windows downtown. In all, 105 people are arrested.

Jan. 8 - Grant's family pleads for calm. Authorities say Oakland police will join the investigation of Grant's death.

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