Only 9 Charged in Much-Hyped Oscar Grant ‘Riot’

And fully three quarters of the 100 people arrested weren't from Oakland.

By Julianne Hing Jul 13, 2010

The Bay was bracing for violence and mayhem after the announcement of the verdict in Oscar Grant’s murder trial, and [depending on](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/09/oscar-grant-verdict-oakland-riots-johannes-mehserle_n_640468.html) [who](http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/BART-service-back-to-normal-Oakland-streets-calm-Friday-98111859.html) [you read](http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-07-09/news/21943551_1_looting-officers-protesters), that may or may not have happened on Thursday night, when ex-BART cop Johannes Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. On Monday, the [SF Chronicle reported](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2010%2F07%2F12%2FBA811EDAF6.DTL) Alameda County prosecutors filed charges against nine people who were arrested that night. The final tally went like this: there were 15 law enforcement agencies present from all over the Bay Area. According to police, 100 downtown businesses were vandalized or looted and there were several trashcan fires. Seventy-eight protesters were arrested and nine were charged by Alameda County prosecutors. Of that nine, seven face felony charges and the other two face misdemeanors. The remaining 66 people arrested received citations and were released. Also, among those who were arrested, a full 75 percent were from outside Oakland–12 weren’t even California residents. These numbers demand more thoughtful conversations as we try to find some concrete definitions for what constitutes a "riot" and who are "outside agitators." For the most part, Thursday night’s demonstrations were peaceful events. There were no deaths or major clashes with police reported and the actions were primarily contained in a *five-block* stretch of downtown Oakland, despite all the morning-after talk about Oakland burning. As Daisy Hernandez put it, it’s [the riot that wasn’t](https://colorlines.com/archives/2010/07/for_weeks_now_a_riot.html). *Photo by Hatty Lee*