More than a decade after a white former policeman was convicted of manslaughter for shooting an unarmed Black man to death on a California train platform, a second transit officer involved in the incident was cleared of criminal charges on Monday. A months-long renewed investigation of officer Anthony Pirone's role in events leading to the 2009 killing of Oscar Grant found that Pirone cannot be charged with murder or any other criminal offense in the death, prosecutors announced. The inquiry, conducted at the request of Grant's family, concluded that former Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) officer Johannes Mehserle alone was criminally responsible for fatally shooting Grant in the back as he lay on a BART passenger platform in Oakland in the early hours of Jan. 1, 2009.
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O Malley says she will not file a murder charge against former BART police officer Tony Pirone in connection to the death of Oscar Grant back in 2009.
O Malley says the evidence is not there, but Grant s family members are vowing to keep the fight going. My heart hurts today because for 12 years I ve been crying out for justice for my son, says Oscar Grant s mom Wanda Johnson, as she fought back tears Monday. My son s head was smashed against the wall and he was kicked and he was punched and the officer, Pirone, still walks around free today, says Johnson.
A Bay Area prosecutor will not file a murder charge against a second transit officer involved in the shooting death of a 22-year-old Black man at a train station on New Year's Day 2009.
Updated on January 11, 2021 at 6:50 pm
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Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O Malley announced Monday that her office will not file any charges against former BART Police Officer Anthony Pirone for the killing of Oscar Grant III in 2009 after reopening its investigation into the case in October.
The shooting of Grant by former Officer Johannes Mehserle at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland in the early morning hours of New Year s Day in 2009 eventually led to the conviction of Mehserle on an involuntary manslaughter charge.
Grant s family had called for a murder charge against Pirone, who was kneeling on Grant prior to the shooting by Mehserle, who said he had meant to reach for his Taser stun gun instead of his firearm.