District attorney reopening investigation into Oscar Grant’s 2009 death

OAKLAND, Calif. — Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley announced Monday that she is reopening the investigation into the death of Oscar Grant, an unarmed Black man who was shot and killed by Bay Area Rapid Transit police in 2009.

In a statement obtained by KRON, O’Malley said the decision was made at the request of Grant’s family.

“We are re-opening our investigation,” O’Malley said. “I have assigned a team of lawyers to look back into the circumstances that caused the death of Oscar Grant. We will evaluate the evidence and the law, including the applicable law at the time and the statute of limitations, and make a determination.”

Family members gathered Monday at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland, where Grant was killed, to call for the reopening of the case, according to The Mercury News. Family members read O’Malley’s statement to the crowd after it was released.

#developing Oscar Grants family reading a statement from Nancy O’Malle just as they learned the DAs office will reopen the case. #kpix5 pic.twitter.com/h2DpBuHjBz
— Juliette Goodrich (@JulietteKPIX) October 5, 2020

“Justice delayed is justice denied,” Grant’s mother, Wanda Johnson, told the News on Monday. “We should not have to wait another 11 years.”

Grant’s family is calling for charges to be filed against Officer Anthony Pirone, saying that he created “the climate of violence” that led to Grant’s death, the News reported.

In a 2009 BART police internal investigation report obtained by the News and KNTV, authorities said Pirone’s actions and behavior “started a cascade of events that ultimately led to the shooting of Grant.”

According to the News, the report indicated that Pirone called Grant a racial expletive and that he used profanity while speaking with Grant and his friends. He could be seen pinning Grant down with a knee to his neck shortly before the 22-year-old was shot and killed by then-BART Officer Johannes Mehserle.

“(Officer) Pirone’s overly aggressive and unreasonable actions and conduct in violation of policy and acceptable standards contributed substantially to the escalation of the hostile and volatile atmosphere during the course of the incident,” the report read, according to KNTV.

Mehserle shot and killed Grant in the early morning hours of Jan. 1, 2009, after responding to a report about an unrelated fight, KPIX-TV reported. A video showed Grant was lying on his stomach on the BART platform when Mehserle pulled out his service weapon and shot Grant. Mehserle later said he had mistaken his gun for his Taser, according to KPIX-TV.

Mehserle was charged with second-degree murder in the shooting. A Los Angeles County jury found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to two years in jail and got out after serving 11 months of his sentence, KPIX-TV reported.