OSCAR GRANT FAMILY & COALITION HOST NATIONAL TOWN HALL
OF PROMINENT BLACK LEADERS, ACTIVISTS
AND FAMILIES OF BLACKS MURDERED BY POLICE
TO CHALLENGE D.A.’S “DECISION” NOT TO PRESS FELONY MURDER CHARGES AGAINST FORMER BART OFFICER ANTHONY PIRONE
IN THE CASE OF OSCAR GRANT III
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 15, 2021
CONTACT: Cephus “Uncle Bobby” X Johnson: [email protected]; 510-706-7558
WHAT: Virtual Town Hall. The Oscar Grant Family and Justice for Oscar Grant Coalition are hosting a massive town hall of black leaders, activists, and families of blacks murdered by police to organize a challenge to Alameda County D.A. Nancy O’Malley’s wrongful decision not to charge BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) police officer Anthony Pirone for the felony murder of Oscar Grant on January 1, 2009. Despite the recently-revealed evidence in BART’s independent investigative report by the law firm of Meyers Nave that contradicts O’Malley’s conclusion, purportedly based on the Sheriff Department’s Autopsy, and despite the appeal of the BART Board itself in its Resolution of January 14, 2021, and the January 12 Resolution of the Oakland City Council, and the demands of elected officials like Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson and Congresswoman Barbara Lee, O’Malley virtually defended Pirone’s violent and racist assaults on Oscar and, on January 11, 2021, denied the reality that he committed murder, felony murder, and announced she would not charge him.
Among the Town Hall participants challenging O’Malley’s decision and organizing to create a national blueprint for bringing police murderers to justice will be Rev. Al Sharpton, Alicia Garza and Patrice Cullers of Black Lives Matter, CNN personality Kamau Bell, Shaun King, Rev. Charley Hames of Beebe Memorial and NAN, Dr. Mark Alexander of 100 Black Men of America, along with the families of Jacob Blake, Sean Bell, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Mario Woods, Michael Brown, Sahleem Tindle, Kenny Harding, Jr., Amadou Diallo, Emmett Till.
The Town Hall will be open to the press and,
at 4:15 pm, will be open for press questions.
WHEN: SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2021, 3:00 PM
WHERE: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84449806096?pwd=Um16N2drdHcwTCt5dk5XZC9SMkNEUT09 Passcode: 01162021
WHO: Rev. Wanda Johnson, mother of Oscar; Oscar’s uncle and aunt, Cephus X, and Beatrice X Johnson; Coalition Attorneys Charles Bonner, John Burris, and Walter Riley; Ministers Sabur Muhammad and Rashidullah Muhammad of the Nation of Islam; various Bay Area and national community leaders.