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January 6, 2009

Video: Police Shoot Dead Unarmed Black Man on Oakland Train Platform
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And in Oakland, California, videotape has emerged showing a BART police
officer fatally shooting an unarmed African American man on a train
platform on New Year’s Day. The video, which may be disturbing to some
viewers, shows an officer pulling out a gun and shooting
twenty-two-year-old Oscar Grant in the back. At the time of the
shooting, Grant was lying face down on the ground. The video was shot by
a passenger on a train stopped at Oakland’s Fruitvale Station. The San
Francisco Chronicle reports there is a possibility that the officer had
intended to fire his Taser stun gun instead of his handgun. An attorney
for the family has announced plans to file a $25 million lawsuit.



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