Chip Johnson
San Francisco Chronicle
SAN FRANCISCO — The jury in the Johannes Mehserle murder trial rendered a verdict months ago, but the battle for hearts and minds rages on.
Supporters for both sides are ramping up the rhetoric in preparation for the former BART police officer’s sentencing scheduled for Nov. 5 in Los Angeles. Now that justice has been served, the question that remains is: in what portions?
Mehserle’s family members have used the stage provided by the San Francisco Giants to unfurl a banner in McCovey Cove calling on the courts to free him. With the Giants’ playoff run, coverage has gone national - and so has the Mehserle message.
On a number of occasions, the former officer’s father, Todd Mehserle, has skippered a giant ocean-going sailboat into the bay and flown his American flag on the mast - along with the “Free Johannes Mehserle” banner.
In July, his son was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant, 22, who was being detained by BART officers on an Oakland train platform in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day 2009, following reports of a fight. Mehserle could be sentenced to up to 14 years in state prison if the judge opts for a gun enhancement with the manslaughter conviction.
On the other side of the case stands the Grant family and their supporters, some of whom were incensed this week when they heard about the Mehserle banner shown on national TV as television cameras panned out to McCovey Cove - at least once focusing on the American flag on the Mehserle boat and showing part of the accompanying banner - during the seventh-inning performance of “God Bless America.”
It was as if showing the “Free Johannes Mehserle” banner was an attempt to proclaim his innocence to the rest of the nation, explained Cephus Johnson, Grant’s uncle and the family’s spokesman.
Family attorney John Burris saw the banner as nothing more than a father showing unswerving support for his son, something most fathers would do, he said.
“I thought the sign was inappropriate, but I have no problem with Mr. Mehserle supporting his son,” Burris said. “In my view, it doesn’t mean anything more than that.”
The elder Mehserle did not respond to an interview request.
His message has received some attention.
When a group attending one of the final games of the Giants’ regular season spied Mehserle’s banner on display in McCovey Cove, they told friends in Oakland who decided to provide an alternative message.
“The idea that when a cop, whether it’s intentional or not, shoots someone in the back - they’re not the ones who should be seeking justice,” said Jared Aldrich, a 33-year-old Oakland resident who teaches in an after-school program. “To take that term and twist it the way they did really bothered us.”
In response, Aldrich and his friends painted their own banner: “Justice for Oscar Grant,” and draped it over the side of his 38-foot ketch, a twin mast sailboat named Sabona. They headed for McCovey Cove for the Giants’ first playoff game against the Atlanta Braves on Oct. 7.
On Tuesday, the group caravanned two vessels into the cove, one bearing the Oscar Grant banner and a second carrying a banner explaining who he was.
“It’s a counterbalance to the message they are trying to send,” Aldrich said.
He planned to return to the cove beyond the right-field seats for Game 5 Thursday against the Philadelphia Phillies. The dueling vessels outside AT&T Park aren’t the only level of maritime involvement in the case.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union announced a Saturday work-stoppage and a rally to call for the stiffest sentence allowed by law to be meted out against Mehserle when he faces the judge in about two weeks.
For one eight-hour shift on Saturday, no cargo will be loaded or unloaded from ships or trucks at four Bay Area ports, said Jack Heyman a member of the union’s executive board of directors.
The work stoppage is to show solidarity with Grant supporters and to call for an end to the practice of police officers shooting people without having to face the same investigative and legal scrutiny required of all citizens.
I understand the sentiments and the motivation from both sides for trying to up the stakes with a public relations campaign in advance of Mehserle’s sentencing, but for Grant supporters, it’s really no longer necessary.
Mehserle’s conviction is a major victory and a case that is now part of the legal record. They have established a legal precedent and set a new standard for future cases of officer-involved shootings.
If the goal of the protests and rowdy demonstrations in Oakland were to make a point - it has been made and it has resonated with a jury.
Copyright 2010 San Francisco Chronicle