For most of us in the blawgosphere, myself included, the biggest risk we take is that we write something foolish or boring, and someone calls us on it. But there are others who have put themselves on the line to blog, at real personal risk, by chronicling the details of abuse and harm caused by a specific group of police officers. These cops are not happy about it, and know exactly who is doing it. One such brave soul is Packratt.
When the murder of Oscar Grant came to light, Packratt was on it. But unlike others, he saw the punch that preceded the murder that no one else seemed to see.
As I reported on 01/11/09, my analysis of the publicly available BART shooting videos clearly indicated that a second officer could be seen punching Grant in the head prior to the shooting… we published that analysis a full two weeks ago, and finally it seems as though others are reaching the same conclusion that I did, as KTVU reported yesterday.
Photo of a security officer named Tony Pirone taken in 2004 at California’s Lawrence Livermore Labs (pdf) matching the build, facial profile, and hair style of the officer seen in videos punching Grant and kneeling on his neck.
I also argued that it was this same second officer, now identified as officer Tony Pirone by The San Fransisco Chronicle, also appeared to be the same officer who “took a knee” on Grant’s neck while he was laying face-down on the platform which would have caused enough pain to make in involuntarily squirm, which would explain what others are describing as a struggle, when it was clear he was cooperative up to that point.
While I don’t extrapolate from yet another “isolated incident” of a kid being executed that everything in the system is horrible and everyone corrupt, it begs the question of how it’s possible that Officer Tony Pirone has escaped notice in the course of BART cop Johannes Mehserle, the shooter.
The trend cannot be denied: When cops do wrong, they are taken down a very different path than everyone else in this society, and that path encourages and perpetuates the culture of abuse, corruption and concealment that characterizes the chasm between police and the citizenry of America.
But now that the rest of us have caught up with Packratt, the question is front and center: What will be done about it?
From all appearances by Alameda Country District Attorney Tom Orloff, the answer is nothing.
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And, as Packratt — among others; Balko comes to mind — has documented, even when the local prosecutor does his job and takes it to a GJ or indicts, and — even with the encouragement of top leadership — other cops step forward to do the right thing and tell the truth, rather than go all Sergeant Schultz . . .
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/391435_deputy10.html
. . . often nothing happens. Like in this case: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/393373_bonnar24.html
Okay. After all, the accused cop, like everybody else, is entitled to zealous representation, and a jury is entitled to have reasonable doubt.
Sure; I got that. And I know people with badges and guns for whom the deterrent against recreational thumping is their character, not consequences.
But when this sort of result happens in clearcut cases like this, I think it’s fair to conclude that whatever’s going to fix things — if anything — isn’t going to be the convicting the rare bad cop who loses this sort of lottery.
What is? Damfino, alas.
All of which is obvious; posting it did give me an excuse to second your kudos to Packratt. He’s a brave guy — he’s operating in a city where a well-known local attorney gets threatened for ticketing a cop, after all — and I’m in awe of him.
You know, I’ve found increasingly less humor in the running “isolated incident” joke lately. It used too often. And thanks for the backup on Packratt. He really is an extraordinarily brave man.
Thanks Scott, thanks Jdog…
As Jdog rightly mentions, we see how difficult it is for police officers to be prosecuted even when other cops are willing to testify truthfully and the prosecutor is a willing participant in the process…
But when we see something like what’s happening in the Grant case, where the prosecutor appears unwilling to fully investigate a case and when the department, local government, and prosecutor are all closing ranks to protect the officers, it’s a sign that we’ll ultimately see another failed attempt.
It’s frustrating, it really is… not only to see the government and department close ranks, which is always expected… but that the media is so unwilling to invest the time to report on this properly. The video everyone is seeing is one that was released on the 5th, the same one I used to analyze and spotted the punch by Pirone.
It’s also clear that Grant was the person Pirone punched, and why it makes Pirone suspect when he came back and planted a knee on Grant’s neck later in the video. Why media insists that the person Pirone punched might be someone else is bewildering since, if you match up both available videos, it’s clear Pirone punches the man in the middle and it’s the man in the middle that Mehserle ultimately shoots, and that person is Grant.
Sadly, though, I really don’t foresee a good outcome here, and ultimately that means that there will be another Oscar Grant.
It’s so rare that we see proof that a police-involved shooting was unwarranted, even though it happens more often than most realize… that’s why this case needs to be covered better, to make sure it leads to needed changes.
Thanks again for covering this, I really appreciate it.
I am shocked by the cover up. Even with video evidence, BART fails to complete a proper investigation. Something needs to happen for the sake of justice.
Grant was no angel but how many of us really are? One thing is clear, a crime was commited by a police officer. That crime must be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
The worse part, Grant was clearly cooperating. The BART representatives are attempting to use Grants past as a form of justification of the horrific murder.
Here is further video evidence of the “Pirone Punch”, proving that in fact wasn’t a punch at all! Watch it, unless you’re more interested in your agenda than the truth
Also, FYI, the BART Police are sworn, full police officers… not security guards. Your ignorance is showing. Might want to do something about that.
FYI, the “security guard” reference is from the caption to the photo, when Pirone was a security guard for Livemore Labs, not a BART officer. As a general rule, you should try your absolute best to read correctly before trying to smack others for their ignorance, but then it really doesn’t matter much to cowards who hide behind anonymity when they’re tryin go be wise-ass tough guys.