Monday evening the San Francisco commute was once again marked by protest. Enthusiasts of the Internet hacktivist collective known as Anonymous, along with other concerned citizens, were demonstrating against the behavior of BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) police.
In response to the demonstration, BART police closed both the Civic Center station as well as the Powell Street station multiple times as about 200 protesters, some chanting "No Justice - No Peace, Disband BART police," moved between the two stations.
Anonymous enthusiasts and other concerned citizens were protesting the disruption of cellphone service in select subway stations earlier this month, as well as what many believe to be the reckless and fatal shooting of 45-year-old Charles Blair Hill in July by BART police.
BART authorities disabled cellphone signals on August 11, in an attempt to prevent a planned protest over the fatal shootings of passengers by BART police officers. In addition to the BART police killing of Charles Blair Hill, Oscar Grant was shot in the back by BART police on New Years Day, 2009.
Operation BART (#OpBART) began Sunday, August 14, as a response to the cellphone censorship, and the attempt to squelch the free speech of protesters. Anonymous defaced BART’s website as well as leaked a vast database of website user emails, passwords, addresses and phone numbers. In addition, Anonymous managed to deface other websites, including the California Office of Traffic Safety’s California Avoid website.
The following Monday, August 15, Anonymous participated in a large demonstration at Civic Center station for a successful and peaceful protest coinciding with the evening commute. Some protesters in the crowd wore red-spotted t-shirts or covered their faces with blood red bandannas in remembrance of the recent victims of BART police brutality in San Francisco.
BART board members have scheduled a special meeting for this Wednesday to discuss the controversial decision to censor cellphones. The decision has been condemned by the ACLU, the EFF, journalists and others.
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