OAKLAND-More than two years after Oscar Grant was killed by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer Joseph Mehserle, Grant’s cousin, Tony Jones, was shot in the back by Oakland police, Reuters reports.
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Reuters has more:
The officer shot Tony Jones, 24, in the back as he fled from a police car at about 11:45 p.m. on Sunday, according to Jones’ attorney, Waukeen McCoy.
“He made a mistake running, but that didn’t give them the right to shoot him in the back,” McCoy said. Jones is the son of Oscar Grant’s aunt, he added.
Oakland police have said that officers shot at Jones when he ran from them carrying a firearm after leaving a car they believed was involved in a robbery.
Many outraged citizens wanted Mehserle to be imprisoned for murder over Oscar Grant’s death. But a jury convicted him of involuntary manslaughter, sparking mass protests in Oakland and neighboring Bay Area cities.
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