Feds to investigate Oscar Grant shooting case

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The U.S. Department of Justice say the review will be conducted by its Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco and the FBI...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal officials say they will investigate the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer on an Oakland train platform to determine whether the case warrants federal prosecution.

Former Bay Area Rapid Transit officer Johannes Mehserle was convicted Thursday of involuntary manslaughter in the death of 22-year-old Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day in 2009.

[NBCVIDEO source=”UNIWIDGET” video=”http://widgets.nbcuni.com/singleclip/singleclip_v1.swf?CXNID=1000004.08052NXC&WID=4a784acd2b1a7e80&clipID=1237990″ w=”400″ h=”400″]

The U.S. Department of Justice say the review will be conducted by its Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco and the FBI.

The verdict touched off violent protests in Oakland, where the case has enflamed racial tensions. Prosecutors had sought a second-degree murder conviction.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE