Oakland police report no arrests after verdict in the Johannes Mehserle case was announced

Oakland police report no arrests despite protests

OAKLAND, Calif. — Oakland’s police chief says a small incendiary device was set off near his department’s downtown station as a crowd of about 500 people protest the verdict in the case of a former transit officer.

There were no damages or injuries.

Earlier Thursday, Johannes Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the videotaped shooting death of an unarmed black man on an Oakland train platform.

Chief Anthony Batts also said Thursday that one person suffered a leg injury when what he described as “a small portion of the crowd” started throwing rocks and bottles.

He says no arrests have been made.

The chief’s briefing came as lines of police in riot gear kept the crowd confined to a two-block area in the city’s downtown area.