BART cop Mehserle gets 2 years (minimum possible sentence) for shooting unarmed man in the back

mehserle_grant.jpg

A judge in Los Angeles today sentenced 28-year-old Johannes Mehserle (shown at left), former BART transit officer, to two years in prison for shooting an unarmed man on an Oakland train platform. Oscar Grant, 22 years old, (shown at right) died.

A number of witness cellphone videos circulated online shortly after the incident, and were used in the court hearings.

Two years was the minimum sentence Mehserle could have received for the involuntary manslaughter conviction. The trial had been moved to LA over concerns about the extensive media coverage of the killing in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Let's hope Oakland stays non-violent tonight.

Oakland-based Youth Radio has some excellent coverage of the Oscar Grant story.

More on today's sentencing: NPR, LA Times, SF Chronicle, Oakland Tribune. The SF Appeal is liveblogging whatever unfolds with protests tonight.