On Friday morning the Port of Oakland was inundated with hundreds of police officers clad in riot gear. The officers were participating in a number of mock riot exercises. Why? Because if Johannes Mehserle is acquitted in the case of Oscar Grant III’s death Oakland will literally and figuratively be on fire.

On New Years Day in 2009 police were called to the Oakland Fruitvale BART station after the train conductor reported fights on the train. Moments later, Oscar Grant III, lay on his stomach with his hands behind his back as BART officer, Johannes Mehserle, fired a shot that later proved fatal.  A bystander captured the searing video footage of the tragedy: the video showed the already restrained 22-year-old being shot in his back by Mehserle. As the news spread of yet another unarmed black man dead at the hands of a white officer racial tension bubbled and the theme of police brutality inflamed the Oakland streets.

The case garnered so much publicity  and incited even more racial tension that Alameda County Superior Court Judge, Morris Jacobson, ordered a change of venue for the trial. Now, 18-months later, Mehserle is on trial in Los Angeles without a single black juror on his jury. But does it matter? I don’t think so: I believe the seven white, four Hispanic and one East Indian that are on the jury are capable of seeing justice. But what is justice in this case?

Mehserle has pleaded not guilty to murder charges. His defense is that he intended to pull out/fire his taser but mistakenly grabbed his gun.  The prosecution argues that Mehserle indeed intended to shoot Grant, and that he used his gun because he was losing control of the situation.

I believe it was a hectic situation, but how likely is it that a trained officer of the law mixes up his/her weapon causing a fatality? Did the officer get scared, nervous, and shoot without thinking? Perhaps. Is that acceptable? No.

However, I cannot logically comprehend that this was a pure and intentional killing. Maybe I’m naïve and want to believe we live in a somewhat humane society. I have asked myself a number of times, “Why on earth would a white law enforcement agent kill an unarmed black man in front of a sea of witnesses?”

While I was originally optimistic that Mehserle would be convicted, being back home (in Oakland) and following the trial has erupted an achingly familiar feeling that injustice will prevail once again. In my head I think of a “guilty” verdict, but am met with the visuals of countless batons clamoring down on Rodney King or the deafening sound of the combined 91-shots that claimed both Amadou Diallo and Sean Bell. I hear the cries that still echo for the dead unarmed young black/brown men.  Officers have been getting acquitted for years: will things change starting with Mehserle?

Michael Mineo a drug suspect who alleged an NYPD officer sodomized him, said “I kind of had a feeling it was going to turn out this way,” referring to officers being acquitted in his case. Mineo continued, “If you want to commit a murder, join the NYPD.” Is that what our community members are starting to believe or is that just one suspects opinion? Do you feel that police officers are invincible to the law?

Ten years ago police officer, Marcy Noriega, shot and killed 24-year-old Everardo Torres who was handcuffed and sitting in the back seat of her police car. She said that she meant to grab her taser. She was acquitted.

Perhaps the difference between the Torres and Grant case is that Grant took a cell phone photo of Mehserle holding his Taser prior to being fatally shot. What will this evidence prove to the jury? In the case of Mehserle the prosecution has rested and the defense has begun presenting. To tarnish the late Grant’s character the defense has questioned a police officer who arrested Grant in 2006. According to a police report, Grant ran from officers, resisted arrest, and was ultimately shot with a stun gun. Grant was sentenced to 1.5 years in prison for gun possession. What effect will Grant’s criminal record have on the way jurors perceive his death?

What is going to happen if Mehserle is acquitted? If past responses to similar cases are any indication we need a better solution.Will a community tear up their own neighborhood? Will people come up with a catchy chant, light another candle, and hold another protest or vigil? What are people going to do if Mehserle is acquitted? What will it say about our justice system if he is acquitted? How do these events shape our reactions to and perceptions of law enforcement?

The divide between law enforcement and people of color in the inner city is a stark one. What happens to the psyche of the black and brown men that fear or distrust officers because of such a wretched relationship. What do we do when we live in a community where law enforcement continuously illustrates a less than stellar command of their power?