Socialist candidate for Calif. Gov. supports ILWU rally for Oscar Grant

All out on Oct. 23 in Oakland!

Carlos Alvarez is the Peace and Freedom candidate running for Calif. Governor. He is also a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

The Carlos Alvarez campaign for Governor believes that former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle deserves the maximum sentence for the murder of Oscar Grant. Michael Rains, Mehserle’s lawyer, has asked for a retrial so that Mehserle’s conviction for involuntary manslaughter can be overturned. This is a slap to the face of Oscar Grant’s family, and all those who have been victims of police brutality.

Oscar Grant was a 22-year-old African American man who was murdered at Oakland’s Fruitvale BART station last New Year’s eve.  Mehserle shot Grant while he was lying down on the floor in handcuffs. The incident was recorded on a cell phone and other cameras. Mehserle claims he was reaching for his stun gun, but instead grabbed his hand gun and shot Grant. The videotape, widely circulated on Facebook and other social networking sites, proves otherwise. Due to overwhelming pressure from the public, Mehserle was convicted. This was a partial victory. But his outrageous, racist actions warranted a murder conviction.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and other labor and community organizations, including the ANSWER Coalition and the Party of Socialism and Liberation, have denounced Rains attempts to get a retrial for Mehserle.  The Alvarez campaign supports the ILWU’s upcoming Oct. 23 rally for Oscar Grant ILWU, which will take place at 12 noon, Oakland City Hall, near 14th/Broadway. The campaign will be there in full force, demanding justice be served.

“The murder of Oscar Grant was not an isolated incident. The harassment and murder of Black and brown youth is systematic. I call for community control of the police, through the creation of a civilian board,” said Alvarez in a written statement.

The racist “justice” system protects killer cops. The mild involuntary manslaughter charge for the murder of a young Black man was a disgrace. The fact that Mehserle’s lawyer is attempting to get a retrial for an obvious murderer is an outrage! We must demand that Mehserle stays behind bars where he belongs. All those against police brutality must be prepared to take to the streets again.

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