Broken glass in smashed window frames the interior of a Sears store in Oakland, Calif., Friday, July 9, 2010. Downtown Oakland business owners woke up to smashed windows and graffiti inside their stores after protests over the verdict in the Johannes Mehserle trial turned violent. Police say they made 83 arrests overnight for violations including failure to disperse, vandalism and assaulting a police officer. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Police chase demonstrators who burned a garbage can near at a BART station in Oakland, Calif., after a guilty verdict for Johannes Mehserle, Thursday, July 8, 2010. Former San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle was found guilty in Los Angeles for shooting unarmed black man Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009 at a BART station in Oakland. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
A worker with the Downtown Oakland Association sweeps the sidewalk near graffiti that reads ” You can’t shoot us all” outside a drug store in Oakland, Calif., Friday, July 9, 2010. The federal government said it will step in after officer Johannes Mehserle was convicted Thursday of a lesser involuntary manslaughter charge, touching off angry protests that damaged stores and netted dozens of arrests. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
A man protests the verdict of involuntary manslaughter given to Johannes Mehserle Thursday, July 8, 2010, in Oakland, Calif. Former Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle was found guilty in Los Angeles for shooting unarmed black man Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009 at a BART station in Oakland. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
A demonstrator holds a sign in front of a moving police line in Oakland, Calif., after a guilty verdict for Johannes Mehserle, Thursday, July 8, 2010. Former San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle was found guilty in Los Angeles for shooting unarmed black man Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009 at a BART station in Oakland. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Graffiti and smashed windows are seen on the windows of a drug store in Oakland, Calif., Friday, July 9, 2010. The federal government said it will step in after officer Johannes Mehserle was convicted Thursday, touching off angry protests that damaged stores and netted dozens of arrests. The jury had a choice between second-degree murder and lesser charges of voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
A protestor carries a mannequin from a Sears store window in Oakland, Calif., after a guilty verdict for Johannes Mehserle, Thursday, July 8, 2010. Former San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Los Angeles for shooting unarmed black man Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009 at a BART station in Oakland. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Two demonstrators wear Oscar Grant masks during a protest in Oakland, Calif., after a guilty verdict for Johannes Mehserle, Thursday, July 8, 2010. Former San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle was found guilty in Los Angeles for shooting unarmed black man Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009 at a BART station in Oakland. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
John Lopes protests in Oakland, Calif., following an involuntary manslaughter verdict in Johannes Mehserle’s trial on Thursday, July 8, 2010. A former transit police officer, Mehserle shot and killed unarmed black man Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A crowd gathers in downtown Oakland to protest the verdict of involuntary manslaughter given to Johannes Mehserle Thursday, July 8, 2010, in Oakland, Calif. Former Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle was found guilty in Los Angeles for shooting unarmed black man Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009 at a BART station in Oakland. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Graffiti marks an Oakland, Calif., storefront after demonstrations on Friday, July 9, 2010. Sparked by an involuntary manslaughter verdict for Johannes Mehserle, a transit police officer accused of killing an unarmed Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009, hundreds of protesters took to the streets Thursday evening. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Graffiti marks an Oakland, Calif., office building after demonstrations on Friday, July 9, 2010. Sparked by an involuntary manslaughter verdict for Johannes Mehserle, a transit police officer accused of killing an unarmed Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009, hundreds of protesters took to the streets Thursday evening. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Police hold a demonstrator during a protest in Oakland, Calif., after a guilty verdict for Johannes Mehserle, Thursday, July 8, 2010. Former San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle was found guilty in Los Angeles for shooting unarmed black man Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009 at a BART station in Oakland. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
A man protests the verdict of involuntary manslaughter given to Johannes Mehserle Thursday, July 8, 2010, in Oakland, Calif. Former Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle was found guilty in Los Angeles for shooting unarmed black man Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009 at a BART station in Oakland. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
A demonstrator takes a mannequin after breaking the window at a downtown Sears store during a protest in Oakland, Calif., after a guilty verdict for Johannes Mehserle, Thursday, July 8, 2010. Former San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle was found guilty in Los Angeles for shooting unarmed black man Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009 at a BART station in Oakland. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Wanda Johnson, mother of shooting victim Oscar Grant, prays for justice outside the Los Angeles Criminal Courts building after a jury found former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter Thursday, July 8, 2010, in downtown Los Angeles. Mehserle, a former BART police officer, shot and killed Oscar Grant while he laid on his stomach on an Oakland, Calif. train platform. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
People react in Oakland, Calif., after a guilty verdict for Johannes Mehserle, Thursday, July 8, 2010. Former San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle was found guilty in Los Angeles for shooting unarmed black man Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009 at a BART station in Oakland. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
After six and a half hours of deliberations, a Los Angeles jury decided yesterday that former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle was guilty of involuntary manslaughter when he shot and killed unarmed Oscar Grant.
The shooting occurred New Year’s Day 2009 and the trial that ensued afterward has captivated the country and raised several questions regarding racism and police brutality.
A cell phone video that captured the detainment and shooting of Grant was a key piece of evidence in the case and led many to believe that a stiffer verdict was in store for Mehserle.
In addition to the video, opponents of Mehserle hoped that his supposed confusion between his Taser and his gun, along with his reported belief that Grant was armed with a weapon, would all lead to a more punitive outcome.
Instead, Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, the least of all the charges that were brought against him, and faces a jail sentence of 5-14 years.
On the evening that the verdict came down, protesters took to the streets and sought to create their own sense of justice.
