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Oscar Grant's family pushes for 2nd cop to be charged

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Published  January 1, 2021 6:45pm PST
Crime and Public Safety
KTVU FOX 2

Oscar Grant’s family pushes for 2nd cop to be charged

12 years after the shooting death of Oscar Grant by BART police, the victim's family members are taking the district attorney to task for not charging a second officer in his death.

OAKLAND, Calif. - On New Year's Day in 2009, Oscar Grant was shot in the back and killed by a BART police officer at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland.

"Twelve years ago feels like today that my son was killed," said his mother Wanda Johnson, addressing friends and supporters at the BART station, where a mural of her son served as a backdrop.

BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle said he mistakenly pulled out his gun instead of his Taser. He was charged with murder but convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

"My family and I and the community have continued to not have justice," Johnson said.

Grant's family says another BART officer who was there, Anthony Pirone, is criminally liable as well for being overly aggressive and restraining Grant with his knees before he was killed by Mehserle.

"We are here to let it be heard around the world that we demand that Tony Pirone be charged for felony murder," said Cephus Johnson, Grant's uncle.

Charles Bonner, a civil rights attorney, said of Pirone, "This guilt will eat at him, like Drano down a clogged drain, if he does not surrender. He knows what he did. He knows that his murderous soul will never rest.

BART director Lateefah Simon drafted a board resolution urging that Pirone be charged. The board will consider it in two weeks.

"No longer can elected officials fear what true justice should really look like," Simon said.

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley has assigned veteran prosecutor Terry Wiley to review the case.

Wiley has experience prosecuting police officers. He was part of the team that retried the "Riders," a group of Oakland officers accused of misconduct.

Earlier this year, Wiley filed manslaughter charges against San Leandro police Officer Jason Fletcher, who shot and killed Steven Taylor inside a Walmart store.