In the very early hours of January 1st, 2009 one fatal shot was fired on the subway platform at Fruitvale Station in Oakland, California. Just a few hours after ringing in the New Year with his close friends and girlfriend, Oscar Grant, who was just 22 years old, was shot and killed by BART Police officer Johannes Mehserle.
The entire incident was caught on video and soon the videos went viral. Hundreds of passengers on the train that night were witnesses of the horrific and blatant murder. Oscar Grant had been involved in a brawl on the train and as the train stopped, BART police came to handle the situation.
Yanked off the train and violently forced against the platform wall, Grant and 3 other men involved in the brawl were unarmed and helpless as they sat side by side along the wall. The chilling footage shows Oscar Grant, as well as the 3 other men, being cooperative with the officers. In a short 10 seconds or so, two cops force Grant to the ground and in an apparent struggle, Mehserle pulls the trigger shooting a man who was face down with his arms behind his back. An outrageous, intentional murder. Mehserle served an appallingly short 11 months.
Amateur director Ryan Coogler decided it was time to take this story to the next level. Produced by Oscar Award Winning actor Forest Whitaker, Fruitvale Station stars Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer and Melonie Diaz.
The movie premiers July 12th, 2013 and will be shown in California and New York. On July 13th, the film opens in more locations, including select theaters in New Jersey, Texas, Georgia, Virginia, DC, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Illinois.
The movie depicts the crucial and humanizing 24 hours of Oscar Grant’s life just before he is murdered, painting Oscar as a man who was trying to better himself for the sake of his family. It leaves viewers angry throughout the movie, wishing they could step in to change his fate. He was a son, a boyfriend and a very compassionate father that was taken way too soon.
In an interview lead actor Michael B. Jordan states, “I feel like Oscar Grant could have easily been me”, a powerful statement that hits home with many victims of the crime happening in America daily.
Timely to 2013, the case of Trayvon Martin disturbingly mimics the story of Oscar Grant. Justice has never and will never be properly served in America and it is pathetically tragic. The feelings of the families and all others affected by the deaths of those wrongfully killed are consistently pushed aside by laws, rules and regulations.
When will murder be seen for what it is? The answer sadly could be ‘never’.
