BART says closing stations keeps passengers safe

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Commuters may be frustrated by protests that have twice closed BART stations in downtown San Francisco, but officials of the transit agency said Tuesday that their strategy of shutting stations besieged by demonstrators is the best way to keep the system running and its patrons safe.

On Monday, for the second week in a row, protesters objecting to BART's shutdown of wireless service in its downtown subway to stop an Aug. 11 protest caused the transit agency's police to close stations repeatedly to prevent protesters from demonstrating on boarding platforms.

The closures angered and confused many passengers, who were forced to walk to other stations, wait for the gates to open, or find other ways home. Some inconvenienced commuters cursed protesters or even threw punches.

Anonymous, the secretive organization behind the protests, has promised to keep up the pressure on BART and has hinted of a third demonstration during Monday's commute. BART officials, while declining to discuss specifics, said their strategies will evolve but appear to be working, despite frustrating commuters.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/24/MNJM1KR0OO.DTL

The only violence associated with BART is when a cop shot and killed a man in one of its stations while the man was face down on the ground.

Maybe that's what their real concern is.

It's the "national security" argument.

Gossip: late last night, Anonymous informed the BART spokesman that they were in possession of 14 Weiner type photos of him and suggested he step down.

Yet another BART cop shot and killed a man in another station after he allegedly threw a liquor bottle at the cops. This is what sparked the initial protest this year. Now BART's comically ham-fisted attempt to shut down cell phone service a la Hosni Mubarak has caused a new wave of protests that are far larger than the original!

:eyes:

but what else is new, BART?

if people aren't in the stations, then BART cops can't pin them face down and shoot them in the back. Keep the BART cops away from the public, and the public will be safe.