From: New Liberation News Service <nlns@igc.apc.org>
Subject: NLNS: BART Cop Kills
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: ?
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 07:54:20 GMT

/* Written  6:29 pm  Jan 18, 1993 by nlns@igc.apc.org in igc:nlns.news */
/* ---------- "NLNS Packet 3.7 *** 1/18/93" ---------- */

Killer Cop and Cover-Up
Larry Pillow, F Newsletter

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (NLNS)--The family of Jerold Hall 
still doesn't know why the 19-year-old man was shot and 
killed by BART Police Officer Fred Crabtree, on November 
15, 1992. Two months after his death, the public still 
hasn't been told the truth about what happened. Hall was 
black, Crabtree is white, so the story should fit into the 
media's current fascination with racially-motivated 
psycho-cops, but with the notable exception of the 
weekly San Francisco Bay Guardian's Tim Redmond, there 
isn't a word of coverage to be found.
	The Bat Area Rapid Transit system (BART) crosses 
several county lines, so the subway and elevated rail 
service has its own police department, with 150+ sworn 
officers patrolling the commuter trtains and stations. 
BART police allege that Hall and an "accomplice," his 
friend John Henry Owens, had stolen a tape player from a 
BART passenger at gunpoint, and that when the officer 
responded to a call for help, he was attacked by Hall.
	But police have been unable to come up with the 
gun they say was used in the alleged robery, despite 
searching Hall's corpse, the train, the station, and Owens, 
who was arrested immediately and without resistance. 
Meanwhile, the supposed robbery victim had 
disappeared by the time BRT police arrived and has not 
yet come forward.
	The undisputed facts are that Hall and Owens got on 
the train at the Bayfair station, and rode to Hayward. 
Somewhere along the route, a passenger radioed the 
conductor that two black men with a gun had stolen her 
walkman. The conductor called BART's central dispatch, 
and BART in turn radioed Officer Crabtree, who, with a 
trained police attack dog at his side, arrived at the 
Hayward station in time to see two black men who 
matched BART's (by-now third-hand) description of the 
suspects, walking from the station to the parking lot.
	According to witnesses, Crabtree approached Hall 
and Owens, then there was a brief discussion between the 
three men, and Hall turned and walked away. Witnesses 
report that Crabtree fired a warning shot (which in itself 
would be a violation of BART Police policy), and then shot 
at Hall, who was walking away.
	Unlike in a normal police department, Crabtree has 
not even filed a normal report on the incident, or if he 
has this fact has not been made public. But other BART 
officers, who were not present when the shooting 
occured, have filed reports based on their conversations 
with Crabtree, alleging variously that Hall "was 
threatening" the officer, "attacked" the officer, "went into 
a crouched position," and "tried to steal Crabtree's 
shotgun,"--though civilian witnesses dispute all these 
claims.
	The idea that Hall attacked Crabtree seems rather 
unlikely. Hall stood 5'4" and 130 pounds, while Crabtree 
is 6'4" and 225 pounds. Hall was unarmed, while Crabtree 
had mace, a club, and a German Shepherd trained to 
attack anyone who puts an officer in danger (by all 
accounts, the dog was passive as events unfolded).
	At first, BART's Public Affairs office said in a press 
release that Hall had been "shot in the chest while 
attacking the officer." That's pretty much the extent of 
the story, and it's been reported in the mainstream press 
here, but reports on file from the ambulance crew 
indicate that Hall was shot in the back of the head. In 
fact, BART no longer disputes this, though the 'correction' 
was a trivial footnote in the big dallies.
	As we walk into Kinnko's to photocopy F today, 
BART hasn't even held a public hearing on the matter, 
and transit officials are stonewalling. A hearing 
announced for Dec.29 wasn't even held--nobody from 
BART showed up, so concerned citizens and members of 
Hall's family were turned back at the door!
	Meanwhile, Jerold Hall is dead, and Officer Crabtree 
is back on active duty, walking the trains in his nifty blue 
uniform, "protecting" the public. And day after day I read 
the papers from San Francisco and Oakland, hoping that 
officers of the law who are above the law might at least 
be newsworthy. But there's no news in the papers, and a 
few nights ago I listened to a feature-length radio 
interview with a BART board member where the subject 
didn't even come up.

F Newsletter can be reached at 1800 Market St. #249, San 
Francisco, CA 94102.

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Xref: sparky misc.activism.progressive:10239 alt.activism:21171