The $25 million suite is merrited...

[estro]

...but part of me is balking at the idea of the family of the man getting it.

If a huge chunk of public transit money is going to be redirected because of another senseless shooting death in Oakland, then I would rather see most of it going to helping *all* of the families affected by violent death in the city this year.

'Cause really, many of those other folks were just as undeserving of being shot as Mr. Grant, but their survivors aren't 'lucky' enough to have a funded agency to sue.

Actually, I would really like it to see it going toward addressing the issues that lead to fights and shootings, but we seem to live in a society more concerned with payback and blame than working toward solutions.

(BART shooting video release, high dollar lawsuit in the works)

Comments

[3ricj.livejournal.com]

dude, whatever. The cops where dealing with a mob of screaming people, leering at them. You also can't tell from the video why the man was shot, but likely he did something to warrant it, in the officers eyes. I mean, they made direct eye contact with the woman with the video camera, and it was a large video camera at that.. so it wasn't a 'hit'. It could very well be that the struggling man reached for his pocket, which would be ample action to cause a reaction in that situation.

So.. likely he had a good reason for firing on the man. Regardless, it will all be covered by insurance, not from the transit budget.

Maybe the mobs of morons, drug dealers and weirdos should try to not harass police offers in oakland. That seems much more wise to me.

[blue-estro.livejournal.com]

he cops where dealing with a mob of screaming people, leering at them. You also can't tell from the video Why the man was shot, but likely he did something to warrant it, in the officers eyes. I mean, they made direct eye contact with the woman with the video camera, and it was a large video camera at that.. so it wasn't a 'hit'. It could very well be that the struggling man reached for his pocket, which would be ample action to cause a reaction in that situation.

I totally agree that that the cops reaction is understandable. But lawsuits, as annoying as they often are, work as sort of an incentive for an institution not to be negligent (similar to the hoped for incentive not to harass cops in Oakland). The moron nature is also why I would much rather any funds get spread around than to just this one man's family. If it goes to the family, then instigating fights with cops seems like a better deal than getting shot by some local thug.