'What is the DA's office waiting for?' Family escalates demand for arrest in Oscar Grant case
"We don't just look at Oscar's life, but we look at all the others who have lost their lives too, senselessly, at the hands of police," Grant's mother said.
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- January 1 marks 12 years since Wanda Johnson's son, Oscar Grant, was killed by BART police.
"We don't just look at Oscar's life, but we look at all the others who have lost their lives too, senselessly, at the hands of police," said Johnson, who spoke at the Fruitvale BART station, where Grant was shot and killed.
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A previously sealed, independent investigation by the law firm Meyers Nave, suggests that Officer Anthony Pirone escalated the situation that lead to the shooting of Grant.
The family says they recently learned that Officer Pirone, who was fired and whose whereabouts are unknown, may now be in Long Beach.
"Why aren't they holding him? Why aren't they bringing him to the Bay Area to question him, and engage him, and investigate? What is the DA's office waiting for?" asked Abdul Rashidullah Mohammad, an advocate of the family, who also spoke at the Fruitvale BART station.
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BART board member, and former board president, Lateefah Simon, says she will put forth a resolution at the next board meeting on January 14, demanding that Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley arrest Pirone.
"The Bay Area Rapid Transit district board of directors believes it is time for Nancy O'Malley to charge Officer Perione with felony murder," said Simon, to the sound of applause.
Officer Johannes Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and has served his time. But family says there is evidence that Officer Pirone, who was never charged, placed his knee on Grant's neck, which could also have lead to his death.
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"That proves beyond a reasonable doubt, that a death occurred and therefore it is felony murder," claims attorney Charles Bonner.
The D.A.'s office did not respond to requests for comment. However, in a previous email to ABC7 News in mid-December, the D.A.'s office wrote: "As is our policy regarding any open investigation, we cannot comment further."
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