Hello again on behalf of No Justice No BART.
Today, we’re going to try to encourage you to move on some of our demands for accountability.
Let us remind you: On January 12th: Police Gee and Dorothy Dugger sat down for a press conference and told the world they had completed BART’s investigation of the shooting. Chief Gee said, and I quote, "All of the other officers who responded to the incident at around 2:00 a.m. at the Fruitvale Station followed protocol and they performed their duties in a professional manner."
By now you have all seen the video, available on youtube at the time of the press conference, that shows Officer Pirone striking Oscar in the face. When the news media and legal experts brought this to the public’s attention, Gee defended himself by saying that NOBODY brought to his attention that Oscar Grant had been punched in the face, that none of the officers on the platform reported the punch in their police reports.
Now, you may or may not be aware, but it is a crime (perjury) for a cop to lie on a police report. Since we have all seen video that shows Officer Tony Pirone striking oscar in the face, in full view of Officer Marysol Domenici. If either of them failed to report that Pirone struck Oscar, then they are guilty of perjury.
On the other hand, if either of them (or any other cop or witness) did report the punch, then we know that Gary Gee and Dorothy Dugger were lying to the media when they told us that had completed an investigation and didn’t know anything about any punch.
So, this is called logic, and it may be tough for you, but do try to follow along. On the basis of this most basic factual evidence, we know that EITHER Chief Gee and Dorothy Dugger are guilty of lying to the board and the public in an attempt to cover-up the actions of BART officers, OR we know that Officers Pirone and Domenici are guilty of perjury.
So which is it? And either way, someone needs to be fired. And we’ll remind you, this doesn’t require an two week investigation. We’ve just done your investigation. Just now, right here at the Board meeting. See how easy it is? The police report is there, in the custody of Chief Gee and available to Dorothy Dugger. You don’t need to release it to the public. You don’t need two weeks or a month for Meyers Nave to investigate.
All you need is to do act like you run this thing, and say to Ms. Dugger, "Dorothy, its come to my attention as of late that you actually work for the BART Board, and not vice versa. What the nice man from NJNB said actually made a bit of sense this time. Be a dear and go and get the police report from Tony Pirone and tell us if he reported striking Oscar.” If the answer is yes, you tell her, “Sorry dear, but you’re fired, and fire Gee on your way out.” If the answer is no, it wasn’t reported, then you tell her “OK, tell Gee to fire Pirone and let the DA know Pirone perjured himself. And do the same for Domenici.”
Now, we’ve spelled out for you word by word what you should already know and what you should have already done. The word out there is you like to be spoon-fed your your action items. So there you go, and don’t be afraid to surprise us.
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And we’ll close by just saying that we're disappointed in you as individuals. We still hope that at some point you (as individuals) can find the motivation to act, to hold people at BART accountable, to make the changes BART needs to make, and that when you finally bring yourselves to take real action, that it is a product of a strength of character, rather than just the product of our coercion. Because it would be truly pathetic if the only reason you move on these most basic demands is because we mobilized to force you to.
If that’s too abstract, then ask yourself this when you go home tonight. Its a little thought exercise. Imagine yourself in 10 or 15 years, and Oscar Grant's daughter Tatianna, who is now old enough to understand what happened, and what powers and responsibilities you had as BART directors, she pays you a visit. She sits down across from you in the living room, and wants to know what happened on the Board in the times when you were dealing with her daddy’s murder. As you tell her that history, day by day, week by week, will you hold her gaze and truly feel proud of the things you said? Will she nod approval when you tell her about the efforts you made? Or will you find eye contact difficult? Will her presence, her very existence prove an unwelcome reminder of how rotten you feel on the inside?
Have a nice weekend, and we’ll look forward to seeing you next Thursday at Rockridge BART.
