A Night in Oakland
Yesterday afternoon, the jury announced their verdict in the trial of Bay Area Rail Transit (BART) police officer Johannes Mehserle. Mehserle had been accused of second degree murder in the shooting death of Oscar Grant III, an unarmed African-American man who Mehserle was attempting to arrest following an altercation on a BART train on New Year’s Eve 2009. The jury convicted Mehserle of a lesser offense, involuntary manslaughter.
I work in downtown Oakland, where many businesses were concerned that the announcement of the verdict would bring a repeat of the civil violence that accompanied the original shooting. Shortly before the verdict was to be announced, we were asked to evacuate our office building. I will confess I felt a great deal of ambivalence about this, but as a manager I felt responsible for the safety of our employees. So I encouraged people to leave.
As I walked to the BART train entrance, the sidewalks were filled with office workers essentially fleeing the city. I began to feel a sense of shame about this. It was “white flight” on a concentrated and graphic scale. I got in line to pass through the BART gates and even had my card out when I just stopped and got out of line. “I can’t do this,” I thought.
I am probably the least spontaneous person you will ever meet. The white board in my office has a “do list” ranging across three columns. I don’t take a vacation without a carefully planned daily itinerary. And yet there I was, making a last minute decision to remain in downtown Oakland at a time when many (white) commentators were convinced the place was about to explode in civil unrest.
I wish I could tell you it was an act of heroic virtue. The truth is that I was seized by something outside myself, an irresistible prompting of the Holy Spirit. I just couldn’t muster the energy to fight against it and keep my legs moving toward that gate. So I climbed the staircase out of the rail station and walked back down the street against the human tide. I called my wife to tell her of my decision. She, of course, understood perfectly.
My first destination was the Cathedral, which stands next to my office building. My hope was that others would be naturally drawn there as a place to keep prayerful vigil while awaiting the verdict. I’m sorry to say I was disappointed. It was deserted except for the security guards. I prayed for a just verdict, not even sure in my own heart what a just verdict would be in this case. I prayed for a peaceful response, whatever the outcome. In the Cathedral, an enormous image of Christ in judgment is depicted on the window behind the altar. I contemplated the image, and prayed that whatever the imperfections of human justice, the city would be able to trust in the ultimate judgment of Christ.
Shortly after 4pm I flipped on my Blackberry and got the news: the verdict was involuntary manslaughter. It was the least serious offense available to the jury, although it still represents—to my knowledge—the only case to date where a police officer has been found criminally liable in a case of this nature.
I wondered whether I should go downtown and join the demonstrators, who I knew would be deeply angry about the verdict. The truth was that my own heart was conflicted about the justice of the verdict. But I felt strongly that the place of a Christian that night was to be present in the midst of the city, not absent from it. In the Psalms of the Office we pray “the Lord is my light and my salvation, of whom shall I be afraid?” Did I believe these words or not?
It was a fairly chaotic scene when I got to 14th and Broadway. The organizers had not yet set up their PA system. The group half-marched, half-drifted into the intersection, blocking a bus. The organizers tried valiantly to get the group to let the bus through, but to no avail. A more militant faction broke off from the main group and started down Broadway to confront a line of riot police that had formed at 13th Street. It looked as if things could get out of control very quickly.
The organizers, to their credit, worked hard to turn it around. They got the PA going and started letting folks get up and say what was in their hearts. As in any situation where you let anyone who wants to speak, it was a diverse lot. This being the Bay Area, there were the usual aging radicals, professional agitators, and even one guy trying to sell copies of his book. The best speakers, though, were the young people. They spoke of their anger at being singled out by police, their frustration with the lack of jobs and opportunity in their communities, their personal experience with violence and the loss of friends. They asked hard questions about why we could generate so much community outrage about the death of Oscar Grant, but not around the death of other young men of color who die on the streets of Oakland on a regular basis.
One of the most eloquent speakers was Oscar Grant, the grandfather of Oscar Grant III. A career soldier and combat veteran, Grant pleaded with the crowd not to dishonor his grandson’s memory by committing acts of violence in the city of Oakland. His comments were echoed by speaker after speaker.
It is true that there were acts of violence and vandalism later in the evening, after most of the demonstrators (myself included) had left. There was a hard core of black-clad “anarchists,” many of whom apparently came from outside Oakland, who were committed to confrontation. Media reports that many local residents shouted “go home” at these folks, to no avail.
I wonder, in retrospect, what would have happened if enough of us had stayed, if we had continued that ministry of non-violent presence, if we had been willing to keep vigil in the heart of the city throughout the night. There were hundreds of police, but that didn’t keep the peace. I wonder if something else could have. It’s worth thinking about.
Wonderful, provocative, and moving reflection.
As I watched the continuos TV coverage from SF, I noted that the police were arresting the faced scarffed white anachists who were trying to stir a riot. The relatively small damage is a tribute to many calls and actions for non-violence. Peter, thanks for being present.. the Christian ministry of presence is too often overlooked.
Seemed like the media was wanting violence to breakout. Not sure if the anarchist types realize how ridiculus they look, especially with their faces covered. It’s a similar fashion statement used by the KKK…don’t they realize that?
Thanks for sharing the comments from Oscar Grant’s grandfather. The shooting and the trial is surely a tremendous burden on the family.
Thought-provoking. I’m glad you stayed, but probably for a different reason (it’s your city, after all, it’s right to stand and “fight” for it). But what if your wife and daughter were with you? And if the races of the accused and victim were switched, would the evacuation have even been considered?
Thanks – admire your decision.
Last evening, I was returning from a small group on the SF Peninsula who had gathered to hear Congressman Dan Lundgren speak. On the way home, I heard the most incredible live show on KFAX radio.
The owner of Western Christian Bookstore (who has revitalized that business the past three years) refused to board up his business as a statement of faith and encouragement to his town. The minister team duo hosts of the regularly broadcast show After Dark had set up to broadcast live from the site (http://www.issuesafterdark.org/), making for some of the most compelling radio since Lakehurst. A very interesting live look at the happenings in real time, of-air moments and all.
Despite some damage and waywardness seen last night, Oakland showed itself proud, at least as far as I’m concerned. Thank you for your actions and recording them here.
There is one just man in Oakland. Doce nos, Peter. The absence of the churches is telling. And che passa with that beautiful Cathedral? I like your wife, already. Euge.
[...] up, read J. Peter Nixon, who recounts last night, in Oakland: . . . there I was, making a last minute decision to remain in downtown Oakland at a time when [...]
Maybe it’s because I’m black, but I wouldn’t have felt the least sense of guilt about getting my butt out of there, quick!
:-)
Still, I deeply appreciate Mr. Nixon’s thoughtful and heartfelt essay.
Both a great rflection and also a reminder that race questions continue to be far from settled.
When I learned about the verdict, I was meeting a friend in Orinda (a wealthy suburban city east of Oakland). My first thought, “I guess I picked a good day to be in Oakland.” The City of Oakland planned to close all of its public buildings on the day of the verdict. It seemed our civic officials allowed fear to overtake the call to lead.
But, throughout the city, churches did open their doors. Church leaders prepared for this event and many of them did attend the public meeting Peter describes. Youth leaders had disseminated the powerful and pithy motto, “Violence is not justice.” And, their efforts appear to have paid off. We faced much less violence in Oakland yesterday than we did in January when we learned about (and often saw via YouTube) the shooting. Several of our elected officials also addressed the crowd.
Oscar Grant never had the chance to become the fully mature man whom he might have been. And, I hope that our memories of this incident allow him to be a person — neither exclusively a sinner nor exclusively a saint; but both. Several of my friends have spoken derisively of him: he was a trouble maker, he should have been home with his children, he had a record… Others have focused their frustration on BART, Offcr Pirone, Mr. Burris, or the DA.
Instead of looking for someone to blame, I hope we can learn how to build a city where we accept common responsibility for the public good of public safety.
I caught a lot of the live coverage on TV and found the coverage by a local “independent” channel (KRON TV 4) to be disgusting! One of their stringers was out to ask as many borderline if not actual inciting questions of the assembled crowd as possible. The main reporter (a true pro of long-standing) was obviously embarrassed at the stringer’s behavior, but didn’t seem to be able to rope the stringer in. Why the station tolerated this sad excuse for on-site reporting is beyond me.
I thought the other stations were almost salivating at the possibilities of expected Oakland mayhem and slightly disappointed that things weren’t worse than they were.
Today’s conference by the police chief stated that, of the almost 100 arrests, 79% were non-Oakland natives. There was an early expectation that white anarchists of a certain age would definitely use the protests as an opportunity to trash, burn and generally do what they do whenever they get the chance.
Most of the limited looting appeared to be done by gangs of younger people in masks and black clothing. They targeted a Foot Locker store near City Hall — and then some of them had the temerity to set up shop and try to sell what they had looted!
Grant was far from an angel. Mehserle was, at best, stupid. All in all, there were no heroes in this, including the BART police (the transit agency for which Mehserle worked) who most likely had not had proper training for the incident.
And, yes, there is a certain albeit small segment who are pro-Mehserle because he (are you ready) is a Catholic.
Your description of the vandals after the main protest is very familiar. They black hooded and masked are present at most well publicized protest events and always cause as much physical damage as possible. They are never part of the main protest but always cause as much damage as possible to the businesses and facilities in the area of the protest then they disappear before they can be arrested. They were at the Olympics in Vancouver BC, the G8/20 conference in Toronto and if you check it out all of the big national or international events for the last few years. The only place you never see them is at the Tea Party events. I think that is because they know that if they tried it amongst those people they would be put down and held for the police. These thugs are a very well organized group and if you keep track you will see their mark on many events.
Peter – thank you for this reflection. I got a sense of you thiinking, “Ok, I’m responding to the promptings of the Spirit …but now, what do I actually do?” Rings a bell with me.