Protest organizer Cat Brooks says the verdict is unacceptable.

Rebecca Bowe

***UPDATED with video***

Activists gathered in Oakland are reacting to the sentencing of former BART cop Johannes Mehserle, who has reportedly received a two-year prison sentence – the minimum possible of what could have been a 14-year sentence – for shooting Oscar Grant to death on a train platform early New Year's Day 2009.

“We will provide a place for people to express their emotion. Civil disobedience is absolutely called for. We will continue to organize and mobilize. The nation has said, 'No more!',” said Cat Brooks, an organizer with the Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant.

A television reporter asked whether she was saying that a violent reaction would be justified, and she corrected him by saying, “I said the anger was righteous.”

Listening to the verdict via a telephone call, Brooks literally shook with anger and sorrow when she initially thought that Mehserle got off with just probation. “This is beyond unacceptable,” she said, offering her “deepest, deepest sympathy” to Grant's family members and those who “witnessed the execution of their friend.”

The judge reportedly threw out a gun enhancement charge, saying it was not justified, and that he believed the shooting was a tragic accident, not an intentional killing by Mehserle. The judge also gave Mehserle credit for the 292 days he's already served in custody, meaning that with time off for good behavior, he'll likely serve less than another year. The Guardian has reporters and photographers with the crowd in Oakland, so check back for updates.

Video by Alex Emslie