Dear Essie,

Thank you for joining us in publicly confronting the Alameda County
District Attorney, and asking California's Attorney General to keep a
close eye on the case.

Your voice lets officials know we're still watching and that we will
continue to demand justice for Oscar Grant and his family. Can you
take a moment and ask your friends and family to join this call?

Below you will find a brief letter you can send. Personalize it as you
wish or write your own, but please send it along right away. Also,
please only contact people who you know personally. Spam will hurt the
effort.


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YOU CAN CUT AND PASTE THE FOLLOWING TEXT:
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Dear Friends,

It wasn't just one cop attacking Oscar Grant on New Year's Eve. A
new video shows that before Grant was killed, officer Tony Pirone
punched him in the face without cause. Experts have called it
criminal. So why has the District Attorney said he's not pursuing
charges?

It took two weeks and thousands of people speaking out before the DA
charged Oscar Grant's killer with murder. It's going to take continued
public pressure to see that justice is served throughout this case.

I've joined ColorOfChange in publicly confronting the Alameda County
DA and calling on California's Attorney General to keep a close watch
on the case. Please join me--you can see the new video and add your
voice by clicking here:

http://www.colorofchange.org/grant/?id=1621-507259

Local news reported on the video showing Pirone assaulting Oscar Grant
last week,(1,2) but it has been on the Internet for weeks.(3) As with
the shooting, the video doesn't leave a lot of room for explaining
away Pirone's actions. It makes it clear that with no physical
provocation, he punched Oscar Grant so hard that Grant immediately
went down. This is assault, and it is a crime.

Unfortunately, it appears that Alameda County District Attorney Tom
Orloff is once again falling asleep at the wheel. First, he took two
long weeks to make the decision to file charges against Oscar Grant's
murderer. Then he declared that he was "not actively pursuing"(4)
charges against other officers, even though he had access to all the
video we've seen, BART's internal investigative report, and the
evidence collected under his own investigation.

Law professor Peter Keane from UC Hastings College of the Law,
couldn't have said it any clearer: "If the district attorney is saying
he's not going to charge any officer except Mehserle, in my opinion
he's not doing his job."(5)

Orloff's inaction further calls into question his commitment to
justice for Oscar Grant. Given Alameda County's terrible record of
prosecuting police abuses, we can't simply trust that Orloff's office
has the will to pursue justice wherever it leads.

That's why the California Attorney General needs to once again place
an observer in the Alameda County District Attorney's office for the
duration of any prosecutions related to Oscar Grant's murder. And
Orloff needs to tell the public how not seeking charges against Pirone
could possibly be in the interest of justice.

Please join me in demanding justice, and ask your friends and family
to do the same. It only takes a minute:

http://www.colorofchange.org/grant/?id=1621-507259

Thanks.

References

1. http://tinyurl.com/c8dxov
2. http://tinyurl.com/ar53bc
3. http://tinyurl.com/a5favy
4. http://tinyurl.com/b7mteh
5. See reference 1.