Oscar Grant Beaten by Police Prior to Being Killed

Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet at 3:00 PM on January 30, 2009.

A newly obtained video of Oscar Grant’s slaying on New Year’s day reveals that he was assaulted by BART Police Officer Tony Pirone before the shooting. The grainy footage shows the officer lunging at Grant and punching him in the face until he falls to the ground.

Everyone knows what happened next: thrown on his stomach, and with Pirone's knee pressed against his neck, Grant was shot in the back by BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle.

BART officials' sluggish, tone-deaf response to the slaying ignited protests in Oakland and other parts of the Bay Area. Eventually, the public outcry over Grant's shooting led prosecutors to charge Mehserle with murder.

But the latest evidence of the criminal assault against the unarmed Grant is being ignored by investigators -- District Attorney Tom Orloff said that he doesn't plan to pursue criminal charges against the other officers present when Grant was killed.

Click here to sign a petition urging Orloff and Attorney General Jerry Brown to make Pirone accountable for his crime.

Tagged as: police brutality, shooting, oscar grant, tony pirone, tom orloff