On January 1, 2009, 22-year-old Oscar Grant was shot in the back and killed while handcuffed, face down on a train platform by BART officer, Johannes Mehserle, who only served two years for involuntary manslaughter. Almost ten years later, Grant’s family requests to rename Fruitvale Station in Oakland, Calif., where his life was so suddenly cut short, after their loved one.
Grant’s mother, Wanda Johnson, said, “It would be an atonement, it would be part of BART saying yes this happened here, we vow that it won’t happen again and we vow to work with the communities and ensure that all people are treated equally.”
However, according to Vibe, BART officials have deemed the family’s request unlikely based on BART policy requiring all stations’ names to align with its geographical position. The Oakland Transit System will instead install a mural honoring Grant.
The family has also requested a side street at Fruitvale be named after Oscar, and the project is currently in the planning stages.
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