Imagine if there was a video of George Zimmerman pulling out his gun, aiming it at Trayvon Martin, and pulling the trigger.
As much passion, anger, and pain as the 17-year-old’s shooting death has set loose in America since it happened nearly two months ago, can you imagine if we were able to log onto YouTube, and watch it happening for ourselves? You saw how this case exploded onto the national scene when the 911 calls became available. As many couldn’t bear to listen to those, there would be many who would avert their eyes when the video was released — but the importance of that physical document would be unmistakable, and unforgettable.
Oscar Grant III was the Trayvon Martin who, three years ago, you maybe, kinda heard of…where was that again? Grant was a 22-year old father when he died, seven hours after he was shot in the back by Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle as he lay on the ground and another officer had a knee on his neck. Like Trayvon, he was unarmed. Like Trayvon, his death inspired widespread outrage throughout the community in which it happened. But unlike Trayvon, there’s video of Grant’s shooting on YouTube.
The importance of that video can’t be overstated, as our own Chris Hayes noted when the police officer was convicted only of involuntary manslaughter in the summer of 2010 on the Rachel Maddow Show:









