Diana Grant
Introduction to Criminal Justice and Public Policy
March 11 2014
Oscar Grant: Fruitvale Station
Fruitvale Station is the real life story of a man named Oscar Grant who was shot and killed by a bart police man. The man who shot and killed Oscar Grant was named Johannes
Mehserle. The incident occurred Oakland, California, United States, in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2009. In San Francisco, oakland, and other cities around the world riots broke out asking that the man who killed Oscar Grant be brought to justice. Grants family filed a wrongful death claim went to trial. A movie was released about this incident called fruitvale station. While watching the movie I felt a connection with him. I live in San Francisco, so I have been to marches and speeches regarding this event, but I have never seen the movie. Before seeing the movie I thought it was another way for “the man” to make money off of oscar grant and it would only be about how he was a “bad” person. instead of my absorptions the movie was heart breaking and truly moving. I didn’t expect to be so emotionally stirred by the movie. the scenes that really hit me hard were the one where his mother visited him in prison and left feeling disappointed in him. I have felt the sting of disappointing my mother and for the first time realized he was a real person and not just the face of a movement. living in San Francisco when everything happened he seemed like just a name but after seeing the movie I felt like he was my friend.
A scene that really hit me hard was unsurprisingly, the police brutally. While watching the only thing I could think of was “holy poop what are they doing” I felt like it was happening right in front of my eyes and i had no idea what to do, or say. When the police man shot
Mr.Grant in the movie, nothing on this earth were able to stop the hot drops of tears flow from my eyes.
It wasn’t till the end of the movie that