UPDATE: Yobie Benjamin at SFGate says the crowd downtown is less than 1000 people, and it is pretty orderly right now.

From my friend Beth Spotswood at the CBS5 Eye on Blogs, here a few links for the Oakland situation now that the Mehserle verdict has come in.  The photo is from the tweets of KevMo from Uptown Almanac, showing an AC Transit Bus being blocked by protesters in Downtown Oakland. This image of police lined up to block the street is also pretty dramatic.

* First, to state the obvious, the family and supporters of Oscar Grant are not satisfied with the Involuntary manslaughter verdict.

* That being said, with the gun enhancement, the minimum prison sentence is now 5 years, with a maximum of 14 years. Alameda DA Nancy O’Malley said that she was disappointed about the verdict, but that Mehserle will be going to prison.

* SFist and SF Appeal will be updating with the latest news, as will the SF Chronicle. Of course, check out some of the local Oakland blogosphere, including OaklandSeen.

* In the end, Violence is not Justice:

The jury has reached a verdict in the criminal case against BART officer Johannes Mehserle in the shooting death of Oscar Grant in January 2009.  The verdict will be read from the Los Angeles courtroom at 4pm today.

The jury could either find Mehserle not guilty, or it could convict him of one of thee crimes: (1) second degree murder (15 years to life), (2) voluntary manslaughter (3-11 years), and (3) involuntary manslaughter (2 to 4 years).

The jury’s deliberations were short (about 6 1/2 hours total).  This is generally seen as a positive sign for the defendant, since juries typically take much longer before convicting someone of murder.  This suggests to me a verdict of acquittal or one of the two manslaughter charges.  We’ll see in about 20 minutes.

Regardless of the verdict, please let the demonstrations that follow be peaceful. Edit by Brian: There will be a Peace Rally at Oakland City Hall at 6pm tonight.  Together, we can retain the positive, constructive, and communal spirit of Oakland.

UPDATE: Guilty of involuntary manslaughter.