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A rally Sunday in support of former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle was peaceful despite a small number of counter-protestors, a police spokesman said.

Mehserle, 28, was convicted last month of involuntary manslaughter for the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant III at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland on Jan. 1, 2009. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 5.

About 20 Mehserle supporters gathered between about noon and 4 p.m. in front of Dublin City Hall, located at 100 Civic Plaza, said Lt. Steve Brown. Six Dublin police officers were stationed at the scene for the event,

Brown added.

Four counter-protestors briefly attended and took photos of Mehserle supporters. They told the rally participants they would post the images online, Brown said.

But the rally ended without confrontation and was “very peaceful,” Brown said.

“The Mehserle supporters were very cooperative and did exactly what they said they were going to do,” he said.

Organizers of the rally notified city officials of their plans before the rally, Brown said.

A July 19 Mehserle rally and counter-protest in Walnut Creek drew between 250 and 300 people with both sides accusing the other of racism and ignorance. The event ended peacefully with no arrests, injuries or property damages.

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3 Comments

  1. Wow!! Please repost this in the Kids and Schools section. This is not an accusation of any wrongdoing at PUSD, but it sure helps to know the right questions to ask. And it does point out some very obvious problems with the way education is managed in the United States. Here are a few direct links to add:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pEmqutcbPc&feature=player_embedded

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqJdonOgPl4&feature=player_embedded

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo9nORIOzvo&feature=player_embedded

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0lnTmEAvYo&feature=player_embedded

    http://www.yankeeinstitute.org/files/pdf/Fusco%20Study.pdf

    Get educated!

  2. Interesting that folks in Dublin appear to have the drive to gather in support of convicted murderers. Perhaps they will pass an ordinance legalizing such activities.

  3. May I point out, you slandering f***, Officer Meserle was convicted of ‘involuntary’ manslaughter, not murder, and which is, or will be, on appeal. Sensible people, who acknowledged from the beginning that this was probably a terrible accident, were supporting him.

    I mourn the death of Oscar Grant as much as anyone outside his family.. and the tragic consequences Officer Meserle has to face.

    unclehomerr..

  4. aside from the fact that the cops escalated that whole episode on the platform, you will never be able to convince me that a trained professional law enforcement officer could not tell the difference between his service weapon and a stun gun.

  5. I used to be married to a professional woman, James, who couldn’t tell her left from her right. It happens.

    If he were going to shoot Oscar Grant, he’d have done a head shot AND warned his fellow officers to stand back. Didn’t happen.

    unclehomerr..

  6. Protest took place in Dublin. The article makes no mention that it was supported or participated in by Dublin residents. Don’t make assumptions. Pleasanton had a FedX truck robbed. Are all Pleasanton residents in support of armed robbery?

  7. If Grant and his friends behaved like normal civililized human beings he would be alive today, probably in prison. The police didn’t magically appear and begin to harass them. I blame Grant and his friends for what happened. Mesherle made a tragic mistake and he will pay for it.

  8. Good observation, Mike. Actually, no one is ‘innocent’ in this series of events, but to Mike’ point, if you don’t place yourself in harms way, you’ll have nothing to worry about.

  9. The death of Grant was a tragedy. Families of both sides will never be the same as a result. Mehserle will be in his own personal hell for the rest of his life as he lives his days knowing what he did – to Grant, the Grant family and his own family. I do not believe he deserves to go to prison. Only he knows if it was an accident. Police put their lives on the line every day and this is how we stand by them? If this were a white police officer vs. a white young man would the case have ended in the same way?

  10. Stevep & Mike: Your statement that if your “civilized people” & “if you don’t put yourself in arms way, you’ll be fine” is very naïve. That MAY be true if you live in Pleasanton, but not everyone is so lucky. Innocent people die everyday, simply walking home, sitting on their front porch, etc. Are those people uncivilized or is that in harms way? Please people – none of us were there that night, but we all saw the same thing: an unarmed man sitting against the wall, be thrown onto his stomach & shot in the back. Officer Pirone is just as responsible as Meserhle. Calling all of them the “N” word among other things – those 2 officers were supposed to be professional and were trained as such. Both acted like juvenile criminals themselves.

    I have a family full of police officers. I have great respect for them and those who serve. They’re out there doing a job I could never do. BUT, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be held responsible for their actions.

  11. Michele,

    Let’s do a little reflection here. Grant was a two time convicted felon and had done time, one felony conviction was for shooting at police trying to escape. He was out very early in the morning starting trouble on BART and his party was picking on people who in turn called the police on him and his party. I hardly think he did a lot to keep himself out of bad situations and this kind of thing happens to people who do that type of thing. I suspect he would still be alive today had he been home with his ride and child who he said he cared so much about. Pity party for nothing. Feel bad for those he bullied.

  12. Michele: You should be ashamed of yourself. You have a family full of police officers and you claim that the officers involved “acted like juvenile criminals themselves”. Really?! When was the last time you were yelled at? Threatened? Made to think you were a piece of scum, made others feel unsafe at the BART station? That’s exactly what Oscar Grant and his friends were doing that unfortunate evening. Seems ironic that if you were from a family of officers, you would know better. Officers go up against the lowest of the low people on a day to day basis; continually get attacked, verbally, physically, emotionally, but all you can say is that they acted like juveniles. If Grant and his friends had acted like normal people that fateful evening; none of this would’ve happened!

    It definitely doesn’t sound like you “have great respect for them and those who serve”. People need to stand up and say what is right (which is what Meserhle said), Grant’s death was unfortunate and a mistake, but what wasn’t said was that, it wouldn’t have happened if Grant and friends had chosen to act differently that night.

    Proud to say that I am related and friends with many officers!

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