




Unrepentant agitators — some don't even live in Oakland — help to further stain the city's image. Their cries for justice as they vandalize property does not mute the obvious — that while they accuse the BART officer of perpetrating unmerited violence against the innocent, that's exactly what they are doing.

Now that the officer accused of firing the fatal shot, Johannes Mehserle, has been arrested, will the needless violence stop? Judging by the actions following Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff's announcement that Mehserle had been arrested and charged, the answer may be, sadly, no.


Each act of violence along with the accompanying rabble-rousing remarks merely strengthens the defense attorney's case for a change of venue. Can anyone say Simi Valley?

From the start, protesters, elected officials, community leaders and even the observers have sought to condense this tragedy into something that makes sense. But it doesn't make sense, and it won't.

One of the more oxymoronic displays was the signs that read: "Justice for Oscar Grant." What does this mean? There can be no justice for Oscar Grant or his family. There is no verdict that can be handed down that will suffice as justice.

What exactly is justice? Is it fairness?

However justice is defined it cannot be served on a platter of emotion in the court of public opinion. I suspect that justice is a moving target that is best defined by whatever one's particular self-interest is in the moment.



We must collectively be mindful of King's words in moments like this: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." The slow, prodding pace of justice ultimately bends toward what is right. But that pace is much slower than most of us would prefer.


