As thousands of San Francisco Giants fans pack AT&T Park to root on the home team, they're seeing a banner that has nothing to do with baseball in the outfield.
A 5x60 sign reading "Free Johannes Mehserle" has been visible in McCovey Cove since last Thursday.
The message is hard to miss because it's attached to a 100 foot mast of an 82 foot racing yacht.
The sign is the production of Johannes Mehserle's father Todd Mehserle who said he dreamed up the idea last week. He was able to execute the plan thanks to a friend who is willing to loan him use of his sailboat.
"He's my son. What else are you going to do?" Todd Mehserle said.
His son is the former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle who is in jail awaiting sentencing for involuntary manslaughter in the 2008 killing of Oscar Grant.
Todd Mehserle says he feels he needs to do something to garner support for his son and sees a captive baseball audience as just the ticket.
Todd says response from Giants fans who hollered out to the boat over the weekend was mixed. He said he simply nodded a thank you no matter the message that came his way.
"We get the thumbs up and we get the thumbs down and we just for practical purposes we didn't comment. Our comments and beliefs were flying in the wind," Todd Mehserle said.
He said Johannes has plenty of support, adding he is hoping he gets "a fair shake finally at the end of this."
"I want the Bay Area to know that my son's a kind individual who's never had a mean thing to say to anyone that we could ever remember ever," Todd Mehserle said.
Todd Mehserle says he plans be out in McCovey Cove for every home game for the rest of the season and says he hopes the team goes far into the post-season.
"I'd encourage everybody out there that's watching this to go to justice4Johannes.com. If they feel he was wrongly convicted they can make a difference by writing the judge or signing a petition because it needs to be done," Todd Mehserle said.
Johannes Mehserle's sentencing is set for Nov. 5.
