White Cop: 'I Didn't Realize It Was a Gun When I Shot Him'

Last week, a Los Angeles judge sentenced Johannes Mehserle to two years in prison for killing Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day, 2009.

Judge Robert Perry’s decision to give the shortest sentence possible to Mehserle, the white Bay Area Rapid Transit officer who shot Grant, a 22-year-old black man who lay prostrate and weaponless on an Oakland train platform, sparked violent protests in Northern California over the weekend.

To the African-American community, the sentence was just another example of the criminal justice system allowing a white cop to get off virtually scot-free for taking a black life. But Judge Perry says that he chose not to give Mehserle hard time because he believes the former officer is innocent.

In July, Mehserle was convicted by a Los Angeles jury of involuntary manslaughter for killing Grant. He escaped a murder or voluntary manslaughter conviction for a number of reasons. First, the case was moved to southern California to ensure that Mehserle received a fair trial. Second, he claimed that he killed Grant unintentionally, only shooting him after "mistaking" his gun for his Taser, an electro-shock weapon. In short, Mehserle claimed he only meant to shock Grant - whom Merserle characterized as resisting arrest - not kill him.

Witnesses corroborated Mehserle’s account, saying that after his gun fired, they overheard the officer say in shock “Oh s—t, oh s—t, I shot him.”

So, let’s say the judge and jury got it right in this case. Oscar Grant’s death isn’t just the latest example of a racist cop shooting an unarmed black man, but a tragic mistake. Then who’s to blame? Surely Mehserle cannot be completely off the hook, nor can Bay Area Rapid Transit, which reportedly failed to give its officers adequate Taser training.

Is Taser International Inc. at all culpable for what transpired? If Taser International hadn’t designed its products to look increasingly like handguns, perhaps Mehserle wouldn’t have confused his Taser with his gun, and Grant would still be alive today. While Mehserle's Taser X26 doesn’t look exactly like a gun, it resembles one closely enough that it’s plausible Mehserle could have mixed up the latter for the former.

Stun guns have come under fire in recent years as some of the devices have not only shocked people but killed them. In fact, Amnesty International estimates that about 351 people have died from Taser use since 2001. Moreover, some police officers now object to Tasers after volunteering to be stunned during training and suffering adverse health effects.

Johannes Mehserle’s claims point to another reason why law enforcement agencies should reconsider their reliance on Tasers, and why Taser International should design products that look markedly different from real guns. Let Taser International know that to avoid another death like Oscar Grant’s, stun guns need to look and feel so unique that no other officer can claim he didn’t know the difference between a Taser and a gun.

Photo Credit: Spot Us