Crime, Punishment, and Outrage

Riots are expected today in Oakland, CA, and might spill over into the rest of the Bay Area. For those of you who haven't heard, the riots are expected in reaction to the verdict of the trial of a BART police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man in the back. Click here for the rest of the story.

The verdict came out earlier today as involuntary manslaughter. When I first heard about the shooting, it seemed like anything but involuntary. The man who was shot, Oscar Grant, was being pinned down by another officer, and was immobilized. Apparently, though, the cop thought he was drawing his taser (how many times have I heard that before?). Looking at some of the video footage, it would seem from the officer's reaction after he shot his pistol that he was a little stunned, like he really did think he was just going to tase the guy. But how ridiculously unprofessional do you have to be to not know what kind of weapon is in your hand before you use it?!

This kind of thing seems to happen pretty often, and I can't help thinking, how the hell did these cops pass their training? And if the feel of a pistol in one's hand really is so similar to the feel of a taser, why the fuck don't the manufacturers of these weapons make them differently, so no one gets confused? Honestly, people, sop messing around. A man is dead and his family is devastated. In fact, the entire city of Oakland is about to be devastated by these riots. I'm moving to Oakland in just a few weeks. Frankly, I'm just glad I don't have any places to check out until Saturday (wish me copious amounts of luck please, by the way, I really want this place to work out).

So What do you think? Was the verdict of involuntary manslaughter fair? Personally, I'm torn by two things in regards tot he verdict. On the one hand, I'm tired of hearing about shit like this going down. On the other hand, I'm fundamentally opposed to the idea of both prison and capitol punishment, and I think our "justice" system is a broken down worthless piece of crap. What would you have happen to this officer? Imagine yourself as a family member of Oscar Grant, but also as the cop. Would you hold BART or even the city of Oakland responsible for not having a properly trained police force? Would you be outraged enough by the incident and the verdict to riot? Imagine yourself a citizen of the Bay Area. How would you react?