Pirone admitted to using the N-word during the encounter, but said it was in response to Grant directing the word at the BART officer. The autopsy would later suggest “the possible conclusion” that injuries Grant suffered to the face were due to the actions of Pirone, whose use of force, investigators wrote, “did not appear reasonable, justifiable or excusable.” Later, Pirone forced Grant to sit back down before hitting Grant in the face with his left knee in an “unprovoked” attack. “There is no indication that Grant kneed Pirone in the groin as he claims.” They determined that Grant “did not appear to assault” Pirone’s partner, and that Pirone grabbed Grant and pushed him against the wall before punching him in the head. The report says none of this happened in the footage seen by investigators. Pirone said he approached and Grant attempted to punch and kick him in the groin, to which Pirone thought “I’ve got a fight now.” Pirone said he felt “like I’m fighting for my life at this point.” Pirone told investigators he soon saw Grant “attacking” his partner. Stephon Clark's family wants supporters to back new bill on police use of force Pirone then saw Grant walking between the train cars and used profanity to order him to get off the train. Several men were taken off the train and lined up against a wall. Mehserle did not cooperate with the internal investigation and as a result was not interviewed, the report says.Įarly in the morning on January 1, 2009, Pirone and his partner went to the Fruitvale station in response to reports of a fight on the train. The report includes the interviews of numerous witnesses and multiple police officers, including Pirone. Officer hit Grant, used the N-word and lied to investigators Pirone declined to comment when reached by CNN Saturday. BART spokesman James Allison confirmed in a statement to CNN that Pirone was “terminated soon after the investigation was finalized.” Investigators ultimately suggested that Pirone be fired for his actions. The report also found evidence that contradicted Mehserle’s claim at trial that he had intended to draw and fire his Taser at Grant, and not his gun.īut according to investigators, it was Pirone who, through his words and use of force, was “responsible for setting the events in motion that created a chaotic and tense situation on the platform, setting the stage, even if inadvertent, for the shooting of Oscar Grant.” MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty ImagesĪ jury found Johannes Mehserle, the officer who shot Grant, guilty of involuntary manslaughter in July 2010. It was also the basis for the 2013 movie “Fruitvale Station.”Īidge Patterson of the LA Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant leads a protest rally outside a pretrial hearing for Johannes Mehserle, the former Bay Area Rapid Transit officer charged with murder in the shooting death of Grant, on March 26, 2010. The New Year’s Day 2009 shooting was captured on cellphone footage and prompted outrage and protests. The report was written by a third-party law firm that was hired to conduct an internal affairs investigation that “examined and analyzed the conduct and performance” of the officers involved in the shooting death of Grant, a black 22-year-old father. Pirone hit Grant and used profanity and the N-word during the incident, the report says, and later lied to investigators about Grant’s actions, claiming he hit Pirone’s partner and kicked Pirone in the groin.īut Pirone’s account was directly contradicted by video evidence reviewed by investigators, the report says. The 10-year-old report – recently released thanks to a new California police transparency law – says that Bay Area Rapid Transit Officer Anthony Pirone “started a cascade of events that ultimately led to the shooting of Grant,” and that he then lied about those events in an effort to put his own “actions and conduct in a more favorable light.” An officer involved in the 2009 fatal shooting of Oscar Grant at the Fruitvale train station in Oakland, California, was responsible for instigating the events and escalating tensions in the encounter that preceded Grant’s death, according to a newly released report.
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