OAKLAND

hmm... BART will be crowded, but on the other hand so many people will be late to work tomorrow that I can probably take it slow. All in all, not so bad.

for future reference, people who live in oakland as i do now: when this sort of bullshit happens and it's post-BART, which way do you take to get home? we did the san mateo-hayward bridge tonight and it wasn't bad, but i wonder if the golden gate to san rafael-richmond bridge isn't faster?

golden gate to san rafael-richmond tends to be faster, yes.

i mean, we were also in potrero hill/dogpatch. so even then? i just tend to believe that the more one can avoid 'streets' on such a drive, the better. but i also hate stopping for lights.

well, it obviously depends on traffic. i think they're doing a bunch of road construction on 880 right now (or they were fairly recently), but it seems like they're doing road construction just about everywhere.

http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2009/10/28/mn-bridge28_252__0500771534.jpg

well, it obviously depends on traffic. i think they're doing a bunch of road construction on 880 right now (or they were fairly recently), but it seems like they're doing road construction just about everywhere.

― sarahel, Wednesday, October 28, 2009 1:40 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark

Yeah, they still are. At some point before the entrance from the San Mateo bridge onto the 880 North there's a lot of construction. The exit to the 880N is the middle lane, and 880 South is the right lane. Signs don't tell you until right before, and since the traffic is completely backed up, switching at the last minute (as people inevitably do) causes a lot of anger. Haven't driven it yet since the Bridge closed, but the girlfriend reports tonight. She might be pissy.

Last New Year's Eve, the San Francisco Area rung in the New Year with a bad start. A police officer working for the BART transit system shot and killed an unarmed man already restrained and facing down on the ground. Now that former cop, 27-year-old Johannes Mehserle stands trial for murder.

With all the media attention and community reaction--some crazy riots--the climate in Bay Area was too intense to hold the trial there. Therefore a judge ruled to move it to downtown Los Angeles. The family of the victim, Oscar Grant, is happy with the decision. Mehserle's lawyers are not.

"Citing the reaction to the 1991 police beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles, [defense attorney Michael] Rains also argued that the trial could drag that city back in time, and into 'the boiling cauldron we wanted to get out of in Alameda County,'" explained the San Francisco Chronicle. Rains also argued that with L.A.'s backlog of cases, the trial won't happen for some time and that it would be better to move the case to San Diego. Others argue moving it to San Diego would result in a not guilty verdict.

I think this is OK. They couldn't have found 12 impartial jurors in AC anyhow. I doubt this will be Rodney King II, but no doubt there will be some street activity during the trial regardless of where it's held. In any event, Oakland doesn't need another round of riots anytime soon.

This sounds like a good compromise to me, too.

this dude's gonna be found guilty anywhere the bigger question is whether it spurs the kind of systemic changes necessary to reform the BART cops into something other than trigger happy nutjobs

I think the big question is what he is found guilty of - like is he going to be found guilty of a lesser charge than those who want the guy punished as much as possible want to see.

The latter seems more likely. The outcome will hinge entirely on how effective the defense is, and what evidence they present--most or all of which has not yet been heard publicly (to my knowledge).

As per Shakey's comment--did the BART cops already have a rep for being trigger happy already?

not nearly as bad as OPD.

BART cops have a number of unjustifiable homicides under the belt, most "classic" one being their murder of a naked, unarmed man

(they shot him in the back! classy!)

BART cops are all totally off their fucking rockers, yes.

i am still trying to substantiate this further, but i read a few months ago that there's court precedent for the "taser confusion" defense negating a murder charge. i think the trial could be held in senegal and there would still be riots in downtown oakland if he's found not guilty.

well, there wouldn't be daily protests and grandstanding outside the courthouse every day of the trial that would cost the City a bunch of money that it doesn't have. Not that the financial argument should outweigh the issue of justice. But, I was actually going to work and driving home from work in the area where the major riot took place on the night it did take place -- and my first thought was how much is this gonna cost the City in police overtime alone, and that it would be a shame if it resulted in a lot of services of quality of life stuff that the City has funded in the past getting cut because of how much they have to spend on cops. My second thought upon witnessing it was, "And this is why we cannot have nice things."

so a BART cop has been caught on camera basically forcing a dude's head through a window.

^I just saw this on a local news teaser, but looks like the vid has been taken off youtube.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/22/BA9V1AORMM.DTL&tsp=1

not only that but it looks like the same location that Oscar Grant was killed?

looks like window confusion to me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBFjP-GV8BE

"game over drunk man... that cop is not fucking around"

that glass breaking sound is almost comical. it sounds so perfect and fake.

wtf

"don' touch him, put some gloves on if you're gonna touch that blood"

that looks like West Oakland station to me

it was West Oakland. I doubt the guy meant to throw his head through a window at the BART station. cop was injured as well.

more quality policing

even when they're in the right, they do it wrong

true

I'm sure Shakey will love me referring to his "favorite" tv show - but the whole incident with Mehserle reminds me of when Prez accidentally shot the undercover cop in The Wire - it was a tragic mistake made by someone that probably shouldn't be a cop and carry a gun.

that guy is a little too excited to help out the police.

can anyone recommend a decent hotel/motel? my folks are going to be in town in april for a week and are looking for somewhere that has a room with a kitchenette type of thing.

http://www.claremontresort.com/

liiiiiiitle bit out of my parents' price range! but yeah, beautiful hotel.

just applied for a job here lol

maybe try the executive suites next to the Best Buy in Emeryville? The Jack London Inn is supposed to be okay. I think there's at least one not too pricey hotel in Jack London Square. Probably steer clear from no-tell motel row on Macarthur.

The French Hotel in North Berkeley is kinda barebones, but very good location.

what kind of job, mookie???

think i'm gonna recommend them the hawthorne suites in alameda

web production thing; v. unlikely tbh

will it be a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Oakland RIP

my friend's live 3 blocks from there. i told them to stay at our house when the verdict hits (or to figure out where they want to loot first [probably jamba juice])

there was supposed to be a downtown circuit rice for bicycles on monday but the event promoter was forced to move it to..... MERCED because the po-po said hell naw.

popo have one of those sonic crowd control devices, apparently.

and tasers that fire bullets too apparently! :-(

from Chip Johnson's column:
"If violence occurs, like before, it will also be the story of outside anarchists from our neighboring professional protester incubation cities."