Haydennet.com – Joseph Andrew Hayden, Juris Doctor

There was no commotion on the BART on the way home the day of the verdict for my daughter and me, despite the marginally disappointing verdict.  I still think it was historic that a white “officer” (I don’t understand why BART police need guns in the first place) was charged with at least involuntary manslaughter for killing a black (unarmed, no less) man who had never been in any serious trouble with the law.  I still think the idea of him thinking he was reaching for a taser, which does not have a holster lock nor a safety log or a finger trigger, have nothing to do with what prompted him to shoot the obviously struggling young man who was on the ground with another cop’s knee into him.  It was something that I do believe his lawyer had suggested several days later that they issue to the press to excuse the homicide.  I think it was tantamount to gay panic by this rookie white security guard having “black panic” when there really was no reasonable cause for belief that Oscar Grant was armed.