The following recounts my limited experience with today's Bart Protest. I knew something unusual was going on when I headed into the Montgomery BART Station upon leaving work, but I had no idea what was specifically happening. On the platform there were huge crowds in both directions waiting for the trains. When my train (inward-bound) came after a few minutes, the announcer said that there would be no stopping at Civic Center station because of a "civil disturbance." We went to Powell station, the station before CC, and a bunch of activists were screaming and yelling (see above) and getting in the way of the doors so the trains wouldn't leave. Some people were handing out fliers. The people on the train generally seemed to disapprove of the action: "This is the wrong way to get your point across" ... "Why do you have to make me late?" ... Etc. Anyways, sure enough we sped though CC station but we could see dozens of riot police through the windows as we went past. Apparently the protest moved from place to place as protesters rode the trains and walked from station to station. I read a flyer that I borrowed from another rider on the way home, so it was only then that I found out what the protest was about.
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I have to say, I'm quite disappointed in some people's reaction to this event. The vapid and shallow posts on Twitter made by Bart commuters express outrage at being delayed for a matter of minutes by the action, and some even wish violence on the protesters (how quickly the liberal Bay Area residents turn on social justice when the struggle comes to their subway!). As someone who tries to get people to care about others needlessly, unjustly and inhumanely suffering and dying, I know how difficult it is to bring these issues to public attention in an effective manner. It is when these demonstrations happen that those who would denigrate the tactics should ask themselves: which is more important -- five minutes of my time stuck on Bart, or taking a step towards ending the systematic brutalization of members of our community by the Bart police?
(Update: I can not but help at this point think of the famous and false slogan of apologia for Mussolini: he "made the trains run on time." But suppose the mantra to be true; might the present-day Bay Area commuter be facing a similar -- though surely different in scale in the extreme -- trade off between individual rights and unperturbed operation of the status quo?)
In my eyes, the protest was an absolute success -- I had not even heard of the alleged murder of Charles Hill before today, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Shutting down the city's transportation, even for a brief moment, definitely got the message across.
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When reading mainstream press coverage of this event, keep in mind that:
- Certain positions (such as the claim of Bart police that Hill was attacking with a knife) are taken by reporters as unquestioned fact, despite eyewitness reports that contradict their claims
- The protesters' position gets very little, if any, mention (despite it being the entire reason for the event happening) compared to statements of the government and police
- Various multicultural buttons of the liberal readership are pushed to cast the protesters in a bad light
- There have been several similar shootings by Bart police in the past
- Bart has been known to try and cover up misconduct by its employees... and the footage that they have of this incident has still not been released
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What follows is the statement and demands from the activists, from the protest Facebook page, which I entirely agree with:
Last Sunday night, BART Police attacked and essentially executed a 45 year old man named Charles Hill. Someone called the BART Police, and reported that Charles was drunk and 'wobbling' around the platform with an open container of alcohol. 2 Officers responded and within 60 seconds of getting out of the train and onto the platform, these cops managed to shoot him 3 times in the chest.
The BART police chief is claiming he is 'comfortable' with this behavior. There is video that they are refusing to release. There are witnesses that contradict the police story (the lies they are using to try to cover this up). History does repeat itself, until we get angry enough to do something about it.
Join us to THIS MONDAY. ON THE CIVIC CENTER PLATFORM (yes, in the BART!). We will participate in a collective act of civil disobedience to demand:
1. The BART police department should be closed down, and the responsibilities of the BART police transferred elsewhere
2. Release the video of the shooting: The witnesses who have come forward all dispute the BART police version of events. BART and SFPD have a video which shows the interaction. We want this released NOW.
3. We demand an independent, PUBLIC investigation of this killing. If eye-witness accounts of the shooting are found to be true, both officers should be fired and charged to the fullest extent of the law.
