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Community members and family of Sahleem Tindle, a 28-year-old father of two, killed by a BART Police officer in January, packed a BART meeting March 12, to demand that justice be served. <\/span><\/p>\n Tindle\u2019s family pleaded, yelled and cried over the lack of action by BART following Tindle\u2019s death on Jan. 3 outside the West Oakland BART Station. Tindle\u2019s family and legal team are calling for the city of Oakland to arrest and charge the involved BART officer, Joseph Mateu, with murder.<\/p>\n \u201cThis family should be grieving,\u201d said Elizabeth Fitzer, a member of the Anti Police-Terror Project (APTP), an organization committed to ending violence against minorities by local and state police. She argued that Tindle\u2019s family should be mourning his death instead of having to work to have his killer arrested and arraigned. \u201cThey should be allowed the time and the space to deal with the fact that they\u2019ve lost a child\u2014a nephew; a cousin; a brother; a father.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Fitzer, along with members of Tindle\u2019s family and community, addressed the BART Police Citizen Review Board (BPCRB), an organization of BART-appointed members who represent community concerns.<\/span><\/p>\n Other members of the community accused BART with releasing conflicting reports to the media and misrepresenting what occured.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are saddened by the first lie, that was initiated by [the Oakland Police Department] on Jan. 3, 2018, stating Sahleem Tindle had a gun in his hand and was shot and killed because he refused to put the gun down,\u201d said Asale Chandler, who read a statement written by Tindle\u2019s mother, Yolanda Banks Reed. <\/span><\/p>\n The official statement from the Oakland Police Department conflicts with the footage from Mateu\u2019s body camera, which was released by BART Police last month. Tindle was fighting with another man across the street from the West Oakland BART Station when Mateu approached after residents told him that shots had been fired. Gun drawn, Mateu\u2019s body camera footage shows him shouting \u201cLet me see your hands\u201d just seconds before shooting Tindle in the back three times. The footage also shows a gun-like object on the ground, but doesn\u2019t indicate who the gun belonged to.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI am truly disturbed by this reckless, uncalled for force of action that occured in broad daylight right in front of his wife and two young children,\u201d said Kanikah LeMon-Jones, one of Tindle\u2019s former teachers. \u201cI know I speak for all too many parents and loved ones of these African Americans, males and Sahleem Tindle in particular\u2014where they’re killed at the hands of the police and others.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhere are the days where police would aim for an arm or a leg to disable a suspect?\u201d she continued. \u201cThese officers shoot to kill. My students are afraid to ride BART and public transportation in fear of being shot and killed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n George Perezvelez, a member of BPCRB representing Oakland’s District 9, headed the meeting and reminded the rest of the committee to remain impartial, but to speak from the heart. He expressed sympathy for the family’s loss. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI want to respond as a Brown person and as a father,\u201d Perezvelez said. <\/span><\/p>\n Crystal Brown-Hamilton, Tindle\u2019s cousin, addressed the committee. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDo you know what it feels like as a person of color, as a mother of color, to have to go through [this] procedure with a 13-year-old and a 10-year-old to know what to do if they are stopped by an officer?\u201d asked Brown-Hamilton. \u201cWe went through scenarios with a 13-year-old\u2026 \u00a0that your goal is to make it home alive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The climax of the meeting occurred when Iysis Levi, age 7, \u00a0approached the the podium, which was taller than her.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI just want to know why you shot him,\u201d Levi said to the silent room, which immediately erupted into applause. The audience stood and pointed at BART Chief of Police Carlos Rojas, demanding that he answer the question. <\/span><\/p>\n Those in attendance took issue with Rojas calling Mateu\u2019s actions \u201ccourageous\u201d last month. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Rojas commented that he knew little of the criminal investigation, as it was being conducted by the Oakland Police Department. When Mateu crossed the street from the West Oakland BART Station, he entered the OPD\u2019s jurisdiction. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [su_carousel source=”media: 37184,37185,37186,37187″ limit=”65″ link=”lightbox” width=”800″ height=”540″ responsive=”no” items=”1″] Community members and family of Sahleem Tindle, a 28-year-old father of two, killed by a BART Police officer in January, packed a BART meeting March 12, to demand that justice be served. Tindle\u2019s family pleaded, yelled and cried over the lack of action by BART following […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":37187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[16234,16050,16056],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-37183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-bart-police-citizen-review-board-bpcrb","tag-sahleem-tindle","tag-west-oakland-bart-station","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n