Feelings ran high, on September 8th, 2011, as police stopped a protest at an underground railway station in San Francisco. NoJusticeNoBART, supported by hacktivists Anonymous, were behind the disturbance, which led to 26-30 arrests and reports of police brutality. Powell Street Station, owned by the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) company, was closed to the public, while demonstrators were cleared from the lobby. They were angry about reports that BART police had previously shot dead two men in the station; and that officials had shut down the underground's mobile 'phone service in a bid to thwart the organisation of an earlier protest. Another four people have been killed by police in the stations, over the past three decades.
The flashpoint seemed to be a legal clash between the Constitutional First Amendment right to free speech and Section 369i of the Penal Code, which prohibits obstruction of a railroad. Journalists caught up in the incident had their press passes confiscated, before some were free to leave.
Inadequate Police Training has led to Six Fatal Shootings at BART Stations.
On July 3rd, 2011, a BART police officer shot and killed Charles Hill, at the Civic Center station, in San Francisco. Mr Hill was a forty-five year old homeless man, who was apparently inebriated at the time. When officers approached, he allegedly behaved aggressively towards them, whilst wielding two knives and a broken bottle.
The shooting drew criticism about the security methods undertaken by BART. It came eighteen months after a similar incident, where police shoot dead Oscar Grant III, at the Fruitvale station, in Oakland. Mr Grant was unarmed at the time and his death provoked rioting in the area. The officer involved, Johannes Mehserle, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and served just 11 months of a two year sentence.
Patrick Oliver, a former police chief and professor at Cedarville University, led an independent audit into the policing of BART stations following the fatal shooting of Mr Grant. It highlighted the fact that six such deaths had taken place within the BART system since 1972, as well as making 137 recommendations for safer policing. By the time Mr Hill was killed, only 27 of these changes had been implemented.
Why were NoJusticeNoBART and Anonymous Protesting in OperationBART at Powell Street Station, San Francisco?
OperationBART, as hacktivists Anonymous dubbed the campaign, was initially a reaction to the shooting of Charles Hill and the wider issue of disarming the BART police. However, matters were compounded when the railway company shut down their cell service ahead of a protest on August 11th, 2011.
A statement, released by BART the next day, claimed that this was to ensure public safety over fears that demonstrators would flood the platforms during rush hour. It was thought that, without telecommunications, NoJusticeNoBART and Anonymous could not effectively organise their people. The protestors decried this as 'censorship'.
The Powell Street protest, on September 8th, 2011, was the fourth such gathering. It was the latest in now regular Monday demonstrations outside San Francisco's BART stations.
Thirty Arrested in OperationBART on September 8th 2011.
The Twittersphere was deluged with Tweets, from protestors at BART's Powell Street Station, as events unfolded. At first, it seemed that the demonstration would pass peacefully. Individuals were told that they could exercise their First Amendment right to freedom of speech, as long as they did not approach the railway platforms nor hinder normal traffic to the fare-gates.
NoJusticeNoBART and Anonymous gathered in the lobby, with placards and chanting. Some of the pictures emerging from the scene were downright humorous, particularly when two naked men joined in. Reporters, some with cameras in tow, banded together to record the protest. Then an increasing number of Tweets told of people being shoved or otherwise hurt by BART police. Liz Tozlian Ireland, a student at San Francisco State covering the OperationBART as part of her studies, was amongst them. Tweeting as CappThisGirl, she wrote, 'Tried to take a photo and got a club in the stomach #opbart #nofare'.
Tweets from several individuals reported that demonstrators were being corralled into a circle, surrounded by BART police. Their number included several journalists and student observers, who were detained alongside genuine Anonymous protestors. Those members of the media in possession of an SFPD press pass were allowed to leave, one by one, but only after they had surrendered their passes to the police. Meanwhile, the shutter came down, closing Powell Street Station at the height of rush hour.
BART Police Press Statement After the NoJusticeNoBART and Anonymous Protest at Powell Street Station.
Deputy Chief of BART Police Dan Hartwig gave a press conference after the detainees had been arrested. He stated that between 26-30 people had been charged under Section 369i of the Penal Code, which specifically prohibited 'interrupting or delaying the transit system.' He said that the decision had been made to encircle protestors, after it was deemed that officers 'could not maintain a safe atmosphere'.
Answering criticism that there had been no warning nor opportunity to leave, before arrests were made, DC Hartwig disagreed. He said that two announcements had been made over the BART intercom system, as well as four more by police officers with megaphones. All six announcements had advised people to leave the station. He confirmed that press passes had been taken from journalists, but pointed out that this was a legal action. The SFPD passes are issued with a warning that they can be taken by police.
DC Hartwig added, "If people express their First Amendment rights in a safe manner, they will not see BART police."
Sources:
- Bay Area Rapid Transit, Statement on temporary wireless service interruption in select BART stations on Aug. 11. (August 12th, 2011.)
- FlickR, Sept. 8 #NoFare protest against BART. (Photographs taken and uploaded by Insurgent, September 8th, 2011.)
- New York Times, Latest BART Shooting Prompts New Discussion of Reforms. (July 16th, 2011.)
- San Francisco Gate, BART promises changes for police force. (October 2nd, 2009.)
- Twitter: Live Tweets, as they occurred, under hashtag #OpBART. (September 8th, 2011.)
- Twitter: @CappThisGirl. (September 8th, 2011.)
- YouTube: BART News Conference Sept 8th 2011. (Uploaded by BARTable, on September 8th, 2011.)
Jo Harrington - Jo has a BA (Hons) in History and Philosophy and a MA in History. She has a book published on the history of Wicca.
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