Some thoughts on the BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant this January 1st:

1: Its too early to protest. I’ve already got emails inviting me to ‘protest’ the shooting. The email sent to me from an anarchist group framed the killing in a way that seemed to me too simplistic to be helpful. The investigation hardly even begun, I think its a bit too early to begin protesting. Mourning, yes. Investigating, yes. Community healing and peace rallies, yes. If the courts decide that it was an accident, it will be a tragic accident-if otherwise, then certainly protests will be approprite-but currently this is not the case. No matter what the decision, from this moment onward what will help is better police training, rigid accountability, oversight, community support, and citizen journalists and surveilance of our public servants.

2. Some police officers can be assholes to be sure. But that doesn’t grant an immediate green light to antagonize them. Surely, some police officers can be out of line and outside the law. But if we videotape them from a distance and keep calm, we as community members can ease the process. I’m not trying to place any blame whatsoever on the crowds at the Fruitvale BART that tragic evening who were loudly antagonizing and interrupting the police business. However, we need to always encourage our communities to not escalate the tense atmosphere of a police investigation.

3. We need our police. In saying that, I am not in any way excusing or taking lightly any police brutality, excessive force, or misuse of authority when it happens. But as BART police records account, there were two people in that same hour who had already been found to be illegally carrying guns on the BART. Unfortunately, while there are people who are carrying pistols around in our families’ neighborhoods and public transportation and fighting is occurring openly, we still need public servants to protect and serve us.

4. Oscar Grant’s life was important-to his family and his community. I hope that his life being tragically taken in such a horrible and senseless manner will be met with peaceful remembrance in all our communities.

Accountability and justice must be served and to achieve that, we must examine the complexity of this tragedy. I first heard about it through a friend of my buddy Jared’s niece. A middle school African American, she looked quite sad and heavily burdened by this story. What was it like for her to witness once again a young black man being the victim of police violence? Her experience as a young black woman, my experience as a white privileged guy, the experience of a weary Oakland, all are connected tonight with mourning, fear, anger, confusion, and perhaps some hope. Hope that Oscar Grant’s life will be remembered, that it will be the last of such grievious occurrences, hope that our cities and our nation will heal and find ways to carry on in the face of great complexity.