Justice for Oscar Grant! Rebellion of the Oppressed is not a Crime, Police Brutality is the Crime!

Joint statement from the International Action Center & F.I.S.T. (Fight Imperialism-Stand Together)

International Action Center http://www.iacenter.org

FIST (Fight Imperialism-Stand Together) http://www.fistyouth.wordpress.com

Justice for Oscar Grant! Jail Johannes Mehserle and All Killer Cops! Amnesty Now for those arrested during the Oakland rebellion! Rebellion of the Oppressed is not a Crime, Police Brutality is the Crime!

The International Action Center and Fight Imperialism-Stand Together (FIST) strongly condemn the fatal shooting of 22 year-old African-American father, Oscar Grant, by BART cop Johannes Mehserle, Jan. 1 at the Fruitvale station in Oakland, Calif. Grant was forced off the train at 2 a.m. with others and forced to lie face down on the ground. While he was laying face down, Mehserle pulled his gun from its holster and shot Grant in the back.

The incident was caught on cell phone cameras and has since been broadcast far and wide, exposing not only BART police but the ineptitude of the authorities in Oakland in dealing with the fatal killing of another unarmed person of color by the police.

It was not until days had passed that BART officials or anyone from the city made any public statements regarding the killing, though many witnesses came forward.

Officials refused to officially give Mehserle's name and claimed that an official statement was being withheld until he could be interviewed. Then, Mehserle resigned and the public was told to wait further.

The people of Oakland appeared to not be in a waiting mood and instead calling for mass rallies and, at the first one, openly rebelling, even to the point of almost overturning a police cop squad car.

This was in response to cops in full riot gear charging toward what had initially been a peaceful demonstration.

The response of the crowd, especially the young people is reminiscent of what transpired in Greece a few months back after the killing of 15 year-old Alexandros Andreas Grigoropoulos by a cop in Exarchia, Greece. The killing set off a rebellion that lasted for days and occurred at a time of a general strike that gained momentum because of the rebellion, which led to more job walkouts throughout the country in many industries.

The mood of the oppressed and workers, especially African Americans in Oakland, one of the poorest cities in California, is one of being fed up. One woman in the crowd of protesters summed it up, "We live a life of fear, and we want them to be afraid tonight.”

From Gaza, where the Palestinian people are quartered in the world's largest prison and being slaughtered by U.S.-backed Israeli bomb and tanks to Exarchia, to Oakland, people have a right to express their indignation, demand justice and their due as human beings.

The cop who killed Oscar Grant should not be allowed to walk free and should be jailed, prosecuted and his fate decided by the people of Oakland. The evidence is irrefutable; it was a cold blooded killing.

The 150 protesters arrested and detained from righteously rebelling at the protest after Oscar Grant was buried should be released and given amnesty as soon as possible.

Demand that the District Attorney arrest and charge Mehserle the murder of Oscar Grant:

Contact: Alameda County District Attorney, Tom Orloff at: (510) 272-6222 (510) 271-5157 fax

End Oppression from Gaza to Exarchia to Oakland!