OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) - The family of an unarmed black man who was shot and killed by a San Francisco Bay-area transit police officer on New Year's Day has filed a $50 million wrongful death claim in Federal Court.
Listed as defendants are the Bay Area Rapid Transit Authority, former officer Johannes Mehserle, BART police Chief Gary Gee and officers Tony Pirone and Marysol Domenici.
John Burris, the lawyer for Oscar Grant III's family, says the 22-year-old Grant was illegally detained, arrested and deprived of medical care after Mehserle shot him in the back as he lay on a train station platform.
"Mr. Grant was unarmed; his hands were tied behind his back and he was not posing a threat to Officer Mehserle when he was shot," the lawsuit claims.
The shooting outraged the public and sparked angry protests.
Mehserle pleaded not guilty to murder and posted $3 million bail.
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