Mehserle Sentencing Causes Another Uproar

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OAKLAND (GaeaTimes.com)- Authorities in Oakland prepared itself for a tense night on Friday as the news of the Mehserle sentencing began to trickle in. The much awaited sentencing of the former BART cop accused of killing Oscar Grant was one of the most racially sensitive cases in Oakland and had earlier caused several riots in the city.

A peaceful gathering of supporters gathered near the City Hall in the afternoon and began to listen to music. Police Chief Anthony Batt said in a statement after seeing the non-violent demonstrations that the situation was calm and he was hoping it would remain that way. things, however, did not turn out as the policemen would have liked as the demonstrations started to turn violent. With the news of the sentencing being confirmed there was widespread violence in Oakland and several car windows and shops were damaged. Police insiders confirmed that as many as 50 arrests were made after the punishment for Johannes Mehserle was announced on Friday.

The Oakland Police Department confirmed that the protests in the city had turned quite violent as there were reports of a police officer being hit by a car. There are also reports that the demonstrators had taken the firearm holster of one of the officers and several cars were damaged. In Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Superior Court judge himself was aware of the consequences of the sentencing of Johannes Mehserle and he said before reading out the sentence that many might be upset with the results but he tried his best. He explained later that most of the evidence indicated that Johannes Mehserle had taken out his firearm mistakenly. He was also given credit for the time he had already served and thus sentenced to just two years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.