I can't be proud anymore.

January 1st, 2009 at 2:15am, Oscar Grant was shot and killed at Fruitvale BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) Station, by BART police officer Johannes Mehserle. 

      Officer Johannes Mehserle and another officer were restraining Grant, who was prostrate and allegedly resisting arrest. Officer Mehserle stood, drew his gun and shot Grant once in the back. Grant turned out to be unarmed. During his court testimony, Mehserle said that Grant then exclaimed, “You shot me!” Grant was pronounced dead the next morning at Highland Hospital in Oakland. It was all caught on camera.

      In the days following, the citizens of Oakland took over the city in efforts to protest Grant’s death. In other words, they rioted. Breaking business windows, burning and flipping over cop cars, discontinuing public transportation routes; they caused mayhem throughout the entire city. Mehserle was eventually arrested and tried in court.

      On July 8, 2010, the jury returned its verdict: Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and not guilty of second degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. Mehserle Initial protests against the ruling were peacefully organized; however, looting, arson, destruction of property - people broke the gate and windows of Foot Locker and cleaned the place out -, and small riots broke out after dark. Nearly 80 people were eventually arrested, though many of them were not originally from the area.

      Today is November 5, 2010 and the judge has decided to sentence him two years jail time with credit of 292 days, meaning he will serve under two years for killing Oscar Grant. Oakland is pissed.

      Now I don’t even feel safe stepping out of my house, because the citizens of Oakland do not know how to better express their anger for something. They destroy their own town and don’t realize how that makes us as a city look. I love my city, but I wish everyone in it knew that we aren’t getting anywhere by robbing Foot Locker and blowing up police cars. 

      It makes no effing sense, and I’m sick of it.

      Rest In Peace, Oscar Grant.