Riots
On January 7, 2009 a protest march in Oakland involving about 250 people became violent. Demonstrators caused over $200,000 in damage while breaking shop and car windows, burning cars, setting trash bins on fire, and throwing bottles at police officers. Police arrested over 100. Grant's family pleaded for calm and spoke out against the violence at a press conference the next day. Nevertheless, on January 8, police in riot gear dispersed a crowd of about 100 demonstrators after some of the protesters stopped vehicles and threw trash cans in the street.
A January 14, 2009 demonstration briefly turned violent, and police arrested 18 people after protesters smashed car and store windows in Oakland's City Center district. Another eight were arrested in a January 30 demonstration after Mehserle's bail hearing, causing Mayor Ron Dellums to suggest that Mehserle's right to bail should be abrogated to prevent violence in the community. Oakland Tribune columnist Katherine Drummond criticized the protestors as "self-described 'anarchists,' who aren't even from Oakland, and wannabe Black Panther Party members... playing right into the hands of the defense" by giving Mehserle a plausible case for change of venue.
On May 18, 2009, 100 protested outside of the courthouse during the preliminary hearing and then marched to the nearby Oakland Police Department. A protest organizer was arrested after the group blocked traffic.
Protests continued throughout the pretrial process. The hearing on February 19, 2010 saw 50 protesters with signs outside of the Los Angeles courthouse. An estimated 200 protesters gathered at San Francisco's Embarcadero BART station on April 8, 2010 to call for the disbanding of the transit system's police department and the firing of an officer who was on the scene when Grant was shot.
On July 8, 2010, following the verdict, protests began peacefully, and officials commended both the protestors and the police for their demonstrated restraint. As night fell, vandals engaged in opportunistic looting of local businesses, such as The Foot Locker, a bank, and a jewelry store. Oakland's police chief was quoted as saying that the people doing violence did not primarily seem to be Oakland residents protesting the verdict, but instead were self-styled "anarchists...who are almost professional people who go into crowds like this and cause problems." Oakland police arrested 83 people on a variety of charges ranging from vandalism to failure to disperse to assault. According to the Oakland Police Chief Batts, nearly 3 out of 4 of those arrested during the protest do not live in Oakland. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that many of the rioters who were most aggressive in damaging Oakland businesses and property were organized white anarchists wearing black clothing and hoods. An anarchist slogan was painted on one wall that read "Say 'no' to work. Say 'yes' to looting." Some Oakland officials objected to the "anarchist" label, commenting that the outside agitators seemed to lack any cohesive philosophy and were simply bent on making trouble.
Read more about this topic: BART Police Shooting Of Oscar Grant, Protests and Violence