The events were captured on multiple digital video and cell phone cameras. The footage was disseminated to media outlets and to various websites, where it was watched hundreds of thousands of times. The following days were followed by both peaceful and violent protests.
Oscar Grant, the shooting victim, had been celebrating New Year's Eve with his friends on the Embarcadero in San Francisco, and was returning to East Bay on a BART train bound for Fruitvale. At approximately 2:00am. PST, BART Police responded to reports that up to 12 people were involved in a fight on an incoming train from the West Oakland BART Station and the participants were intoxicated and under the influence of a substance. When officers arived, they removed Grant and several other men suspected of fighting from the train and detained them on the platform. Grant and another man ran back onto the train after being detained, but Grant voluntarily returned to the platform when officer Tony Pirone grabbed the other man and dragged him from the train. Pirone handcuffed Grant's friend, angering other riders. Pirone then lined up Grant and two other men against the wall. When five other officers, including Johannes Mehserle, arrived at the Fruitvale station, they found the situation chaotic. Mehserle's partner on duty, Officer Jon Woffinden, said the "incident was one of the most frightening he had experienced in his 12 years as a police officer."
The shooting has been variously labeled an involuntary manslaughter and a summary execution. On January 13, Alameda County prosecutors charged Mehserle with murder for the shooting. He resigned his position and pleaded not guilty. The trial began on June 10, 2010. Michael Rains, Mehserle's criminal defense attorney, has claimed Mehserle intended to fire his Taser, but mistakenly shot Grant with a pistol when he thought Grant was reaching for a gun. Pretrial filings argue that his client did not commit first-degree murder and asked a Los Angeles judge to instruct the jury to limit its deliberations to either second-degree murder or acquittal.
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