Oscar Grant's Family Wants Fruitvale Station Renamed In His Memory
Despite the family's request, BART officials said that it was not policy to name stations after people, as it is a location-based system.
OAKLAND, CA – JANUARY 14: Protestors carry signs with a picture of slain 22-year-old Oscar Grant III during a demonstration at Oakland City Hall January 14, 2009 in Oakland, California. Twelve days after the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant III, former Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer Johannes Mehserle was arrested and charged with murder for shooting Grant in the back as he lay face down on the ground following an altercation on a BART train. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
It’s been almost 10 years since Oscar Grant was killed by a BART Police Officer at the Fruitvale station in Oakland, Calif., on New Years’ Day 2009. And just before the 10th anniversary of Grant’s death, the family is making a heartfelt request to the BART’s board of directions to rename the station in his memory.
“It would be an atonement, it would be part of BART saying yes this happened here, we vow that it won’t happen again and we vow to work with the communities and ensure that all people are treated equally,” Grant’s mother, Wanda Johnson said, according to ABC7 News. The suggested name was the “Fruitvale-Grant” station.
Despite the family’s request, BART isn’t giving the family much hope, instead saying that changing the station name will not be possible, due to policy that “stations cannot be named after individuals,” although they attempted to offer a compromise by suggesting a mural.
“Our policy is stations cannot be named after individuals, it has to be tied to a location. So it is location based. What we are doing, and we are working closely with the family, is BART has commissioned a mural and it’s going to go up at the Fruitvale station. It’s going to honor Oscar Grant,” Spokesperson Alicia Trost told the station.
Nonetheless, that did not satisfy the Grant family, who criticized board member Debora Allen who they say posted an article to Facebook (which has since been taken down) about the mural asking for public opinion, which the family believe invited criticism, according to the news station.
Renaming the station isn’t the family’s only request. The family is also hoping to have a side street at the station renamed after Grant, although BART officials are handing that request over to the city of Oakland.
