It's a riot

Everyone's waiting for Oakland to erupt in an orgy of violence and fire as the Johannes Mehserle trial verdict is pending.

I admit to the same feelings of wariness. Worries over rioting made me deliberate for almost ten minutes before I drove into Alameda on Saturday to have some mai tais.

Goodness me.

Ten minutes. That's got to be a record.

My flippant commentary aside, I'm hoping that things don't go nuts. I expect Mehserle to get convicted with involuntary manslaughter or a similarly-slight charge. Regardless, I doubt anyone's going to be satisfied with how this plays out, given that the case is about a white police officer shooting an African American man. Add to the mix that there were no African Americans among the jurists and I think folks who want to flip out will find plenty of excuses to do so.

It would be nice if everyone suffered a bought of extreme sanity and just chilled out. Demolishing parts of already-struggling downtown Oakland doesn't do anyone any good at all.

Would be nice if everyone heard their rational voice this time around.