Did an affair between two BART police officers sent to quell a New Year’s disturbance at the Fruitvale Station set the stage for the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant by their fellow Officer Johannes Mehserle?
That’s what the $50 million wrongful death lawsuit brought against BART alleges. A female cop “got in the face” of Grant, who got back in hers, prompting a male cop [not Mehserle] to rush over and push him down.
In a February letter to BART Police Chief Gary Gee, Burris wrote that “a number of sources, some within your department,” had informed Grant’s family that the two officers had a “nonprofessional relationship” that influenced their conduct.