The family of a young man shot and killed by a Bay Area Rapid Transit officer on New Year's Day has filed a lawsuit against the agency and four of its officers, including the chief, seeking $50 million for the murder.
The federal civil rights lawsuit was filed by John Burris, attorney for the family of Oscar Grant, according to a late Monday report by the San Francisco Chronicle.
The suit names BART after Officer Johannes Mehserle -- who was filmed firing the shot which killed Grant -- along with BART officers Tony Pirone, Marysol Domenici and Police Chief Gary Gee.
Mehserle, who quit the BART force after Grant's death, is free after "unknown sources" helped post his $3 million bail. Mehserle is charged with murder. According to court filings, Mehserle's attorneys will claim that he intended to draw and fire his Taser at Grant, not his firearm.
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The family's attorney "suggested that racism had played a role in Grant's detention and death, an accusation that a lawyer for BART said was not supported by evidence," reported the SF Chronicle.
"Burris wrote that an unidentified officer 'directed a racial slur at one of the young men' after they were detained. Grant was African American, and the other detained men were black and Latino, Burris said in the suit."
A BART attorney said Burris had no evidence to claim one of the agency's officers used a racial slur.
Grant's family had previously filed a $25 million suit against the agency.
