I did not expect this

I admit it, I did not expect this.

Johannes Mehserle, the San Francisco police officer who shot Oscar Grant in the back, killing him, as Grant lay face down and handcuffed in a BART station on New Year's Day, has been arrested and charged with murder.

Mehserle, who had refused to explain his actions to investigators, was arrested in Nevada.

Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff said murder charges were filed

because at this point, what I feel the evidence indicates is an unlawful killing done by an intentional act, and from the evidence we have, there's nothing that would mitigate that to something lower than a murder.

Damn. While it remains to be seen what will happen at trial, it's hard to imagine that all the video evidence taken by people at the scene can be overcome. It remains possible, just possible, that, as some have speculated, Mehserle thought he was pulling out his taser rather than his gun. But even in that case, I don't see how he could be convicted of anything less than assault and manslaughter. (Would that use of the taser would be assault with a deadly weapon or at least aggravated assault, but that ain't gonna happen.)

One other good word for Orloff:

"I understand that there's a great deal of emotion in the community and I understand that this situation raises a lot of significant social issues in our community," he said. "I would hope that people would ... let the criminal justice system play this out.

"In terms of those that want to protest on the broader social issues, I think peaceful protest can be a very healthy thing."

A DA endorsing the idea of social protests. Will wonders never cease.