Mehserle's Father: "He's In The Wrong Place"

Todd Mehserle couldn't hide his emotions when asked about his son's manslaughter conviction in the BART platform shooting death of Oscar Grant III.

“He's in the wrong place,” said Mehserle of his son, Johannes. "We love him dearly. He grew up to be anybody he wanted to be and he chose public service. And this is his thanks for making a mistake. It’s very tragic and unfortunate. ”

As he spoke to KTVU Monday, Todd Mehserle stood near a small group of supporters who were holding a rally for his son at San Jose City Hall.

"Of course, I'm here today just to support my son and to support all law enforcement," said Mehserle. "Because it's a very, very slippery slope when we start to send people to work with guns and not only civilly convict them, but criminally."

In his first interview since his son shot and killed the unarmed Grant on the Fruitvale BART station on New Year's Day 2009, Todd Mehserle tearfully said his son is “doing okay” behind bars.

“It’s very unfortunate (Grant’s death),” Todd Mehserle said. “Our family does feel bad. It was a tragic accident and we’ve always felt terrible. But we also know the insults that have been hurled at us.”

Johannes Mehserle has been incarcerated in Los Angeles since his conviction for involuntary manslaughter and use of a gun in the shooting. The former BART police officer has said he accidentally drew his gun instead of his Taser.

Todd Mehserle thanked people out who gathered to show support for his son and law enforcement in general.

“It kind of touches my heart when I see something like this go on and they jail an innocent victim of the system here when we really should be thanking them for the job they do,” said Sherri Mitchell, the ex-wife of an Oakland police officer who came to the demonstration.

Unlike last month's rally in Walnut Creek that drew upwards of 300 people, there was no organized opposition at Monday’s small demonstration.

However, there were passers-by who voiced their opposition, asking the demonstrators how they could protest the conviction of a man who shot a defenseless person who was bound and on the ground when the fatal bullet was fired.

The San Jose rally to show support for Johannes Mehserle ended at around 6 p.m. At its height, there were about two dozen people in attendance. Organizers said they planned to hold more rallies around the Bay Area before Mehserle is sentenced three months from now.