The Police Shooting of Oscar Grant

[da6cents]

See Video of Police Shooting:

http://nothingtoxic.com/media/1231380622/Train_Shooting_New_Angle_-_This_Cop_is_so_Screwed

(CNN) -- Hundreds of citizens and community leaders packed into the Bay Area Rapid Transit board room and two overflow rooms Thursday, demanding the group take responsibility for a subway officer's shooting that left a young man dead.
A woman holds a sign demanding justice for victim Oscar Grant at a BART board of directors meeting Thursday.

A woman holds a sign demanding justice for victim Oscar Grant at a BART board of directors meeting Thursday.
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The BART board of directors meeting started with a moment of silence for Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old father who was killed on New Year's Day in a crowded train station, but it quickly turned into a parade of angry speeches by elected officials, activists and outraged citizens.

For nearly six hours, according to local media, about 60 people addressed the board.

The public asked the BART directors, and they agreed, to set up a committee to review procedures. They also discussed the possibility of creating a civilian review board.

Inside the room, people clutched Grant's photo. Some held signs against police brutality. A couple of times citizens chanted loudly and pumped their fists in the air.

Grant's mother, Wanda Johnson, dressed in a shirt with her son's face and the words "RIP Oscar," held a news conference Thursday afternoon at the family attorney's office to plead with the public to stop the rioting breaking out in response to the shooting, according to CNN affiliate KTVU-TV.

"I am begging the citizens not to use violent tactics, not to be angry," an emotional Johnson said at the news conference. "I know it's a very frustrating time, but Oscar would not want to see all the violence that's going on. He would not want to see the fires, he would not want to see this."

"You're hurting people who have nothing to do with the situation. You're vandalizing their property, hurting their cars and breaking their windows. Please just stop it, please."

Johnson wiped tears from her eyes as her son's friends also pleaded for calm.
Don't Miss

    * KTVU: Transit agency blasted over shooting
    * Spokesman: Officer in subway shooting resigns
    * Video of police shooting spurs questions
    * Read the $25 million claim (PDF)

At the news conference, the Grant family attorney, John Burris, said he understood the frustration that African-Americans, especially those who are young, were feeling. Noting the case of Sean Bell, Burris asked the community to not take away from the tragedy by creating more violence.

"That's not what Oscar stood for, that's not the life he led, so don't mar the image of Oscar. He was trying to be a peacemaker on that tape," Burris said referring to a recorded video of Grant's shooting.

Footage from KTVU showed demonstrators rampaging through the streets of Oakland, California, on Wednesday protesting Grant's death.

The Oakland Police Department made 105 arrests, including a mass arrest of about 80 people at 11 p.m., said Officer Jeff Thomason. The charges include inciting a riot, vandalism, assault on a police officer and unlawful assembly, he said.

One officer was injured, but not seriously, Thomason said.

Some protesters lay on their stomachs, saying they were showing solidarity with Grant, who was shot in the back as he was face-down on the floor at a train station. Video Watch angry protesters in Oakland »

Several witnesses caught the incident on camera, and there have been numerous demonstrations this week. The protests turned violent Wednesday night after Grant's funeral and following an announcement by authorities that Officer Johannes Mehserle, who is implicated in the shooting, had turned in his resignation.

Videos from witnesses show Mehserle shoot Grant in the back as another BART officer kneels on Grant. A BART spokesman has said there is more to the story than what can be seen on the grainy images. Video Watch the events preceding the shooting »

Oakland police tried to keep protesters at bay Wednesday night as they smashed car windshields and storefront windows. KTVU footage shows one protester jumping up and down on a police car hood, while another demonstrator pushes a flaming Dumpster up against it.

"We live a life of fear, and we want them to be afraid tonight," an unnamed female protester said. iReport.com: BART protests turn violent

The protests began peacefully about 3:30 p.m. with about 500 people gathering at the Fruitvale station, where the shooting occurred last week, Thomason said.

Soon, a group of about 150 protesters surrounded a police officer. Fearing for his safety, Thomason said, "the decision was made to use chemical agents to protect that police officer."

The crowd calmed down, but then a contingent of protesters turned violent again, smashing windows and setting cars on fire, he said. Police tried to disperse the crowd and warned five times that anyone who didn't leave would be arrested.

At about 8:30 p.m., police started making arrests. One person was arrested after carrying a firearm; another faces charges of possessing suspected crack cocaine, Thomason said.

The crowd finally dispersed about 11 p.m. after police hemmed in a crowd of rowdy protesters at the downtown intersection of 20th Street and Broadway. There, police cuffed 80 protesters, Thomason said.

"If people want to peacefully protest, we're all for that," he said. "If it's peaceful, we're all for it. We're not going to stand in the way of people saying what they want to say."

This was not the case Wednesday night, Thomason said, warning that police would be out in force again Thursday night to make sure any protests remain orderly.

David Chai, chief of staff for Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, said Dellums was "out and about" in the streets Wednesday, urging protesters to exercise their frustration productively. Dellums also announced that the Oakland Police Department was conducting its own investigation into the matter.

"The mayor's involvement was essentially to try to calm everybody down," Chai said. "He obviously expressed some frustration with the process."

He said Oakland residents also were "rightfully" frustrated that the investigation has gone on for a week with little development.

Thomason said Oakland police will either work alongside BART in its investigation or take the probe over, but no decisions have been made.

BART spokesman Linton Johnson said Wednesday that Mehserle's attorney has advised his client not to speak to authorities. BART released a statement Wednesday saying the officer's attorney and a union representative had handed in his resignation letter.

Attorney Christopher Miller released a statement confirming his client's resignation, effective Wednesday.

"Officer Mehserle's resignation should allow BART to get back to the business of managing regional transportation and allow the Alameda County district attorney to take primary responsibility for reviewing this matter," the statement said.

Johnson told CNN on Wednesday that Mehserle had received death threats.

District Attorney Tom Orloff told CNN on Wednesday the incident is a "pretty clear" homicide, and his office will focus primarily on Mehserle's mental state before the shooting.

Burris is pushing Orloff to press criminal charges against Mehserle. Burris has also filed a $25 million claim with BART, alleging wrongful death. Read the claim (PDF)

"Without so much as flinching, the Officer Mehserle stood over Grant and mercilessly fired his weapon, mortally wounding Mr. Grant with a single gunshot wound to the back," the claim alleges.

BART has until late February to respond.

Burris said that the young men had been celebrating the new year at a popular waterfront tourist spot, The Embarcadero. They were heading home when police pulled them from the train car about 2 a.m.

Witness videos show Grant and two other men sitting against a wall in the Fruitvale station after being pulled off the train. BART reported that they had received a report of an altercation on the train.

Police are seen putting Grant face-down on the ground. Grant appears to struggle. One of the officers kneels on Grant as another officer stands, tugs at his gun, unholsters it and fires a shot into Grant's back.

There have been unconfirmed reports that Mehserle may have mistook his gun for a Taser, but Burris is not swayed.

"My view is, this is criminal conduct, period," he said.
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BART Police Chief Gary Gee released a statement this week expressing condolences for Grant's family and saying the authority is cooperating with Orloff's office.

A statement Wednesday said BART "will continue to seek and examine all available evidence and will continue its full cooperation with the ongoing independent investigation by the district attorney."
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CNN's Eliott C. McLaughlin, Augie Martin, Dan Simon and Mallory Simon contributed to this report.

[devineone]

The Grant shooting is sad indeed, I will continue to watch this story unfold.

All of us who live here benefit from being here.  the infrastructure, political system, educational system, economic model, relatively stable environments, etc ALLOWS for us to work towards bettering ourselves…It allowed for Barack Obama, a member of a minority group, to be elected to the highest office in the land.

I hear you Legacy and agree; however I look forward to the day when the penal system ALLOWS for fair justice towards all and moves away from continually targeting and beating up on black folks.  I know it's not as bad as it was, but we still have a long way to go in this area in our country.  I believe this is what Sharpton and Smiley as well as Brokaw meant when they said that having a black president does not mean that black people no longer face racism.  Just witness how blacks are routinely treated by the POL-lice. 
Here is yet another story that unfolded a little over a week ago of a police shooting.

"Questions surround shooting of baseballer's son".

CNN) -- Robbie Tolan sits in a Houston, Texas, hospital bed with a bullet from a police officer's gun lodged in his liver. The son of a famed baseball player was shot in his own driveway.

But how this unarmed 23-year-old and his cousin ended up in the cross-hairs of an officer's gun, suspected of stealing a car, is a question sparking allegations of racial profiling.

"There's no doubt in my mind that if these had been white kids this does not happen," said David Berg, Tolan's attorney.
It was 2 a.m. on December 31 when Tolan and his cousin, Anthony Cooper, were confronted in the driveway of their home by Bellaire, Texas, police officers. Police officials say the officers suspected the two young men were driving a stolen car.

Bellaire is a prominent, mostly white suburb in southwest Houston.  Robbie Tolan is the son of a once-prominent professional baseball player. His father, Bobby Tolan, had a 15-year career for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds, spanning 1965 to 1979. He played on one of the most-heralded Cardinal teams ever: the 1967 World Series champs.

The younger Tolan is just starting to develop his own baseball career. He's played in the Washington Nationals minor league system and spent part of last season playing for the Bay Area Toros of the Continental Baseball League.
Tolan's relatives say the two young men had just arrived from a late-night run to a Jack-in-the-Box fast food restaurant.

As they walked up the driveway to their home, Anthony Cooper said an unidentified man emerged from the darkness with a flashlight and a gun pointed at them.

"We did not know it was a police officer," said Cooper. "He said, 'Stop. Stop.' And we were like, 'Why? Who are you?'"

The officers ordered both men to lie down on the ground. Tolan's parents heard the commotion and came outside. Police will only say an "altercation" took place. Tolan's family say it involved his mother.

"The cop pushed her against the wall," said Tolan's uncle, Mike Morris.

Relatives say Tolan started to lean up from the ground to ask the officer what he was doing to his mother. That's when the family says Tolan was shot in the chest, the bullet piercing his lung and then lodging in his liver.

But Tolan's SUV wasn't stolen. Both men were unarmed and relatives say they were hardly a threat to the police officer. Anger over the shooting has been building over the last week.

"He was the victim of the worst case and worst kind of racial profiling," said community activist Quannel X.

The Bellaire Police Department has called the shooting "tragic" and put the officer involved in the incident on administrative leave.

"Anytime someone is injured we take it very seriously," said Byron Holloway, Assistant Chief of the Bellaire Police Department. "But any allegation of racial profiling, I don't think that's going to float."

The police department is investigating and the district attorney's office in Houston is also looking into whether charges will be filed against the police officer.

The policeman is a white, 10-year veteran of the force whom police say has an excellent record.

Bellaire Police officials are no longer talking publicly about the case. The department's assistant chief says they're investigating how the officers on the scene mistakenly determined that the SUV Tolan and his cousin were driving had been stolen.

Robbie Tolan remains in a Houston hospital. Relatives say he is in severe pain but is expected to recover. But his attorney says that Tolan's baseball career might be over.
Tolan's father isn't worried about that.

"I'm not concerned about his career as a baseball player. I'm concerned about his health," said Bobby Tolan.

[Bambi eyes]

From the way the writer describes the incident and how it took place it is feasible that the officer simply mistook his gun for his taser and just didn't realize it wasn't the taser.  With all the witnesses standing around I doubt he'd be so dumb as to kill the man in cold blood for all to see when it was clear that using a gun was inappropriate and everyone there would see him do it and be able to testify to what he did.  That's my initial take.  But the question is why was he reaching for even a taser when the guy was on the ground and obviously not going to be able to hurt anyone from the position he was in...he shouldn't have been reaching for anything, so If he gets charged with criminal conduct he deserves it cause he shouldn't have even been reaching for a taser, a gun or anything at that point, the man was down on the ground with hands behind his back being cuffed, what threat could he possibly have been at that point.  Maybe this officer will go commit suicide like the other officer did when he killed a man in a negligent manner and save the tax payers money going through a lengthy waste of time trial about what state of mind he was in when he did this...obviously it was the wrong state of mind because now a man is dead over what should have been a routine matter.    Initial reaction right out the gate.

[devineone]

My question is why are officers quick to shoot to kill rather than disarm especially in a situation where the person is already subdued but does not pose an immediate threat? An officer killed a man who came at them with a baseball bat.  Two offciers were on the scene and were called to the apartment for a domestic disturbance.
This happened early Dec. of 2008.  The officer fired into the man's chest.  Couldn't he have fired (if he had to fire) into the man's arm or something?

"Bronx Man Is Killed in Police Confrontation."

There have been unconfirmed reports that Mehserle may have mistook his gun for a Taser, but Burris is not swayed.

Even if this is so, why did he shoot the man in an area that would possibly be lethal, couldn't he have tasered him in a non-life threatening area of his body?  Don't these cops know how to aim to disarm rather than always aiming to kill?

Then again when they do taser, sometimes it can have disastrous results.
"Man falls to death after police stun gun shock."
These police officers need some better training or something because they aren't reacting well to the very situations one would think they'd be especially trained to handle.  I guess who would have thought this guy would fall to his death once tasered.

Taser gun

18-round 9 milimeter glock

[da6cents]

From the way the writer describes the incident and how it took place it is feasible that the officer simply mistook his gun for his taser and just didn't realize it wasn't the taser.

Bambi it's hard for me to buy the taser argument. The west coast, and particularly the Bay area, has had a long dark culture of police brutality that has been permitted to exists for decades. This is the same part of the country that gave rise to the Black Panther Party of Self-Defense and allowed Rodney King's beaters go free. With the way this case has been handled, I believe the cop intended to shoot and kill this man.

[Bambi eyes]

Bambi it's hard for me to buy the taser argument.

It was hard for me to buy it too... but then when I thought about how it is described that this went down, I put myself in the officers position and remembered how just the other day in a moment of fright and panic when my guy asked me to pass him the scissors to cut the duct tape we had wrapped around an animal trap and it appeared the animal was going to get out of the trap and possibly bite me or my guy I grabbed the first thing that could cut which turned out to be a utility knife (knife with a razor blade) and handed it to him with the razor sticking out where he could have cut himself as he grabbed it from me.  I did this without even thinking,  even though the scissors were sitting right next to it on the counter and I could have just as easily grabbed the scissors like I was supposed to and like he specifically asked me to. 

In a fit of panic and frenzy when we are not thinking straight and feel threatened, anything is liable to happen... "to err is human".  I can also think of at least 5 other times when I reacted the wrong way in a situation where I panicked that under normal circumstances I would have done what was expected, but because of fright and panic, I did the wrong thing...ever heard of a person accidently pressing on the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal and causing an accident during a time of panic when they've been driving for years and know all to well exactly where both pedals are located and have used them properly before?  Things happen.  So this officer could feasibly have reached for his taser if it's parked right next to his gun and pulled the wrong thing out and then shot without even realizing he had the wrong weapon in his hands.  The question is do both devices operate the same way where it's just point and shoot, and were they parked next to each other where he could easily mistake one for the other when not thinking about it.  Also, you've got to wonder what kind of idiot would just shoot someone in cold blood with a bunch of eye witnesses standing around that could tell on him?  I just don't see anyone being SO stupid, no matter how badly they want to kill a black man.  But who knows D6cents, with all the corruption going on in that area, you may be right, maybe he did think he could beat all odds and get away with that...maybe. 

[da6cents]

It was hard for me to buy it too... but then when I thought about how it is described that this went down, I put myself in the officers position and remembered how just the other day in a moment of fright and panic when my guy asked me to pass him the scissors to cut the duct tape we had wrapped around an animal trap and it appeared the animal was going to get out of the trap and possibly bite me or my guy I grabbed the first thing that could cut which turned out to be a utility knife (knife with a razor blade) and handed it to him with the razor sticking out where he could have cut himself as he grabbed it from me. 

Now really put yourself in the cop's position and pull out your gun instead of your taser. Worse, shoot the Brother instead of taser him. Do you think you're going to react the way this cop did? If it was truly a mistake and I did that I would drop the gun and panic. This guy immediately put the gun back into his holster. He didn't even look at it with an 'OH MY GOD' reaction. No he meant to shoot that Brother.

http://www.ktvu.com/video/18409133/index.html

The interesting thing is that we haven't heard from any of the cops involved included the one who pulled the trigger OR the one across from him. My guess is that ONE of the reasons we haven't heard from BART police is that they can't get the other officers to collaborate the taser theory. Which, btw, they haven't tried to put forth anyway. It was just a rumor put out there by the racist media.

Trust me if the taser theory was even a remote possibility, we would have heard it from BART police by now. Instead we've heard nothing really.

[devineone]

  Wow, in that video it almost looked like that guy was shot execution style!!

[Bambi eyes]

Do you think you're going to react the way this cop did? If it was truly a mistake and I did that I would drop the gun and panic. This guy immediately put the gun back into his holster. He didn't even look at it with an 'OH MY GOD' reaction. No he meant to shoot that Brother.

You've definitely got a point.  I didn't see the video so my reaction was based on how it was described in the papers.  No, I would think the cop would drop the gun and show shock and disbelief after doing something like that.  In any case like I said, it would be a waste of time/tax payers money to take this to trial because in the end, it doesn't matter whether he meant to do it or it was an accident, he shouldn't have been reaching for anything, gun or taser to handle this situation, so for that his butt should go to jail for murder without bothering to question his state of mind...he was wrong period.

[da6cents]

Former BART cop arrested on murder charge

http://us.mg2.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?freeacct=1

[Bambi eyes]

Good.  Now that I see him, he looks like he would do something like this... it's all in the eyes.

[Legacy]

The Grant shooting is sad indeed, I will continue to watch this story unfold.

All of us who live here benefit from being here.  the infrastructure, political system, educational system, economic model, relatively stable environments, etc ALLOWS for us to work towards bettering ourselves…It allowed for Barack Obama, a member of a minority group, to be elected to the highest office in the land.

I hear you Legacy and agree; however I look forward to the day when the penal system ALLOWS for fair justice towards all and moves away from continually targeting and beating up on black folks.  I know it's not as bad as it was, but we still have a long way to go in this area in our country.  I believe this is what Sharpton and Smiley as well as Brokaw meant when they said that having a black president does not mean that black people no longer face racism.  Just witness how blacks are routinely treated by the POL-lice. 

Well let me make a generate statement & then deal with your comments.

First, we all know racism exists & whether or not racism was the reason for the cops action in this circumstance, we also know that cops in some instances use excessive force, disregard protocol or make unfortunate & sometime fatal mistakes. The video looks pretty damning & if he stupid enough to intentionally shoot that kid with witnesses video taping & all those others watching, he'll pay the price for his actions.

Now, let's talk about what we NEVER seem to want to deal with. There were 124 murders in Oakland last year. I'll say it again. ONE HUNDRED & TWENTY FOUR MURDERS.

http://www.sfgate.com/maps/oaklandhomicides/

Oakland was 5th on the Top 20 most crime ridden cities in the US behind 1> New Orleans, LA 2> Camden, NJ, 3> Detroit, MI, & 4> St. Louis, MO

http://trendbend.blogspot.com/2008/11/top-20-crime-ridden-us-cities-2008.html

Now you tell me what officer is coming into those communities with a greeting card & candy?

This is what we have to understand. The overwhelming majority of these shootings, be they justified or if excessive force is used by the police, happen in crime infested neighborhoods. You can't expect cops to have anything but an aggressive disposition when they're working in such violent environments. Also, the community in Oakland is outraged & protesting over *this* murder.  However, that only makes sense if the majority of black folx are being killed by the police which is CLEARLY NOT THE CASE.

So the obvious question becomes WHY IN THE HELL AREN'T THEY OUTRAGED THOSE 124 MURDERS WHERE A SIGNIFICANT % HAVE BOTH  A BLACK PERP & VICTIM? What? Is a black life somehow less valuable if someone black kills them? Are they somehow less dead if someone black kills them?

Where is the outrage for the loss of black life PERIOD? Where is the outrage towards these black THUGS who directly endanger all of us by running around murdering, shooting, raping, assaulting, etc black folx with no regard for life black or otherwise? Where is the outrage for those THUGS who are also indirectly putting ALL us of in danger since police officers who patrol these hell holes have to keep their hand on the trigger or they might become a statistic?

The problem is the ONLY time we wanna talk about murder in the black community is when a situation like this happens. However, it's ALL THE OTHER MURDERING that allows for situations like this to happen. We gotta stop this selective outrage @ white folx & hold black folx to a MUCH higher standard than we have been. Instead of just protesting what appear to be a case of excessive force we need to first VEHEMENTLY protest black-on-black homicides which is directly & indirectly endangering all of us.


As for Sharpton & Smiley, they're opportunist who feed off of unfortunate situations like this for their own personal gain. They can tell you all about how we're being "victimized" by whites but if they were TRULY interested in the well being of black folx then wouldn't they spend more time talking about the issues which have the greatest impact (which in this case would be black-on-black homicides). Well, of course they could do that but where the money, & publicity in that?

At any rate, RIP to the deceased. Unfortunately, we're going to continue to see this happen until the community understands that we have to get our crime under control or police will continue to shoot first & ask questions later.

[devineone]

Good points Legacy, outrage over black on black crime should reverberate  just as loudly. That does occur more frequently and a black life is no less valuable when it is snuffed out by another black person.  Still it doesn't make it any easier to swallow watching a video of a white cop shooting an unarmed black man who is lying down execution style.  It harkens back to the days when this type of thing happened on the norm and was fully supported and sanctioned by the law.  Remember the klan and lynching? I guess people have a knee jerk reaction to it.  It seems that black folks have less tolerance for white on black crime than they do for black on black crime.
 
As for Sharpton, he has his purpose whether you find him useful or not.  He can be distasteful, but there is always a need for foot soldiers.  We had a community advocate in the town where I grew up and when black folks got in trouble and they thought they were receiving unfair treatment, they knew who to call.  This man knew how to create a ruckus that white folks didn't want to hear.  He helped a lot of folks in my hometown and surrounding areas.   He wasn't known like Sharpton, but he was known in my neck of the woods. 

[da6cents]

The problem is the ONLY time we wanna talk about murder in the black community is when a situation like this happens. However, it's ALL THE OTHER MURDERING that allows for situations like this to happen. We gotta stop this selective outrage @ white folx & hold black folx to a MUCH higher standard than we have been. Instead of just protesting what appear to be a case of excessive force we need to first VEHEMENTLY protest black-on-black homicides which is directly & indirectly endangering all of us.

I totally agree with you here Legacy. Black on Black crime is a far more serious problem. However, I also feel that we should be working in our communities to stem that BOB crime as well. There’s no use standing on the sideline (not saying that you are) and talking about the BOB issue UNLESS you are also engaged in efforts to stem it as well. But your point is duly noted.

This is what we have to understand. The overwhelming majority of these shootings, be they justified or if excessive force is used by the police, happen in crime infested neighborhoods. You can't expect cops to have anything but an aggressive disposition when they're working in such violent environments.

Personally, I’m not concerned about excessive force and justified shootings by the police except for the fact that it means the end of a life for a Black man who at one time in his youth likely had a promising future. But if he’s a menace to society, get him off the street by any means necessary. However, many of these unjustified shootings don’t occur in these crime infested neighborhoods. Amadou Diallo, Patrick Dorismond, and Sean Bell all come to mind. The problem is not only the environment in which these cops are used to working in but also the criminalizing of the black male image by the media. So when a cop or even the average white american sees a black male, too often he sees a criminal first and maybe a human being second.

 And too often, between the media and the job, white cops see ALL Black men as criminals. Particularly, if there's a somewhat hostile confrontation between the police and the black male.

In this Oakland situation, the shooting took place downtown, not in the projects.

[Legacy]

Good points Legacy, outrage over black on black crime should reverberate  just as loudly. That does occur more frequently and a black life is no less valuable when it is snuffed out by another black person.  Still it doesn't make it any easier to swallow watching a video of a white cop shooting an unarmed black man who is lying down execution style.  It harkens back to the days when this type of thing happened on the norm and was fully supported and sanctioned by the law.  Remember the klan and lynching? I guess people have a knee jerk reaction to it.  It seems that black folks have less tolerance for white on black crime than they do for black on black crime.

No, it shouldn't reverberate *just* as loudly, it should be *infinitely* more loud because that's where the bulk of the problem exists. Again, this isn't 1950 & that's the problem we keep having. It's 2009 & the Klan isn't killing black people on a regular basis. Black people are killing black people on a regular basis. We gotta stop focusing on white folx. They are no longer the cause of our major issues & no solutions will come from them.

As for Sharpton, he has his purpose whether you find him useful or not.  He can be distasteful, but there is always a need for foot soldiers.  We had a community advocate in the town where I grew up and when black folks got in trouble and they thought they were receiving unfair treatment, they knew who to call.  This man knew how to create a ruckus that white folks didn't want to hear.  He helped a lot of folks in my hometown and surrounding areas.   He wasn't known like Sharpton, but he was known in my neck of the woods. 

DO.. the problem is you think everyone has a good heart like you. You think everyone genuinely cares like you. I'm trying to tell you that people like Sharpton are shrewd, callous & calculating opportunist that don't care 2 shyts about black folx. If he cared about black folx, why wouldn't he make a bigger deal out of black-on-black crime? I'll tell you why. AIN'T NO MONEY IN THAT & that's the cold & unfortunate truth. I mean, c',mon,.. he's a preacher..as is Jesse, as is Dyson, as is West... starting to see a pattern?

Sharpton is DISTRACTING us. He's keeps us externally focused on lesser issues for his benefit, not for our benefit.