An L.A. jury is deliberating in the trial of ex-cop Johannes Mehserle for
murdering Oscar Grant, a young Black father, in Oakland last year (see multiple
videotapes on you-tube). The trial was moved here on a defense motion to get it
out of Alameda County, where the community was widely aware of and fired up
about the case. They are betting that in L.A., they can get away with letting
the cop off. The judge has already removed first degree murder as a possible
verdict before sending the case to the jury, which is now considering second
degree murder or voluntary or involuntary manslaughter as possible verdicts. In
the face of all the evidence, they could also acquit (or cause a mistrial by
being unable to reach a verdict).

I talked today with the Black Riders Liberation Party (which has been organizing
about the case independently as well as through the LA Coalition for Justice for
Oscar Grant) and they are proposing to do a strong mobilization to the
courthouse on Tuesday morning, before any verdict. That would have the advantage
of serving notice on the state and the criminal-injustice system, and letting
the jury know, that there would be a heavy political price to pay for an
acquittal or mistrial (in case of a hung jury).

The media will be out in force in the expectation of a verdict, and verdict or
not, we should give them something bold and dramatic to cover on the news. The
police have made it clear that they have a "secret plan" to quash any resistance
at the courthouse once the verdict comes in, so we can preempt that by acting
first. (This would be in addition to, not instead of, existing plans that we
have been flyering about to mobilize to court when a verdict is announced, and
to meet up in Leimert Park at 5:00 that evening for a community rally/march).

We still have a day or so to call people up to come out Tuesday, July 6 starting
at 8:30 AM at the Criminal Courts Building on Temple between Broadway and
Spring, and make a final impression on the city and the jury that L.A. is just
as fired up about this case as Oakland and the Bay Area. Hopefully thereby we
can impact the results of the trial and prevent a total miscarriage and denial
of justice. The state is already complicit in the murder of Oscar Grant; the
other BART cops involved in the incident should have been indicted along with
mehserle, and the jury should have been allowed to consider a Murder 1
conviction. I hope people will embrace the Black Riders' proposal for a Tuesday
morning rally at the courthouse. See you there. Please forward widely!