The videotaped killing of an unarmed black man by a transit police officer here has inflamed long-running tensions between police and many African-American residents.

Public outrage at the New Year's Day slaying of 22-year-old Oscar Grant intensified as grainy footage of the shooting played repeatedly on television and the Internet, while the officer remained free and not charged with any crime.

Dozens of black community leaders and residents berated Bay Area Rapid Transit officials for hours at a meeting Thursday, the morning after demonstrators torched cars, smashed store windows and threw bottles at officers in downtown Oakland.   Read More...