As planned, civil disobedience protesters disrupted BART service in San Francisco and chained themselves outside the federal building in Oakland Friday morning, calling for black justice timed to coincide with the long Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend.
Before the sun came up, activists banged on drums, chanted and locked themselves together outside the federal building in downtown Oakland, carrying signs that read "Black Power."
"We're doing our part to #ReclaimMLK's legacy," tweeted one protester Not Frantz Fanon. "Belief in internationalism & use of direct action tactics. #MLKShutItDown #3rdWorld4BlackPower."
Then, at 7 a.m., other activists took to the Montgomery Street BART Station in the heart of San Francisco's financial district and the agency's second busiest station with more than 40,000 exits a day. As of 9 a.m. trains were not stopping at Powell Street in San Francisco, but trains from the East Bay to San Francisco were stopping stop at the Embarcadero and Montgomery stations. By 9:30 a.m., trains had resumed service. BART police arrested two people, a man suspected of kicking a train window and a woman who allegedly block on a train car door. Train ridership was down 24,000 compared to the day before, according to spokeswoman Alicia Trost.
Armed with signs and spoons - on which they banged on the idle BART trains - activists hoped the inconvenice would shake people iinto action, and do more to see that people of color are not unfairly treated in the United States. Organizers have billed this as one of many "No Business as Usual" proteststs honor the legacy of the late Rev. King. These protets are just a continuation of what's been happening around the country since this summer, when two grand juries decided not to indict white police officers for killing unarmed black men - Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York.
Many grassroots groups took part in the protest, including Occupy Oakland, Third World Resistance, Bay Solidarity Action, Anti Police Terror Project and a new group tweeting under the Twitter handle BART_Friday, to keep followers apprised of the unfolding events.
Some commuters had mixed feelings about the BART protest.
Local
Commuter Dave Schwartz told NBC Bay Area that he "certainly supports people's right to protest," but he thought it would be "hypocritcal if you're taking BART to the protest." Many of his colleagues worked from home on Friday.
Others took to social media to make their points with the hashtags #CommutersLivesMatter and #Payingmyrentandbillsmatter.
The BART protesters have three main demands:
One, they want BART to drop all charges against the "Black Friday 14," a group of 14 activists who were arrested for chaining themselves to a BART train at the West Oakland station on Nov. 28. Protesters have said the Alameda County District Attorney's Office is seeking as much as $70,000 in restitution for the action, but BART officials have said they are looking into community service options in lieu of restitution.
Two, the protesters are also calling for the disbandment of the BART police and fare discounts for low-income residents. And three, they want BART to disband its police force.
As for BART, the management has sent out a statement indicating that the transit agency will facilitate demonstrations at the BART station, but "if protesters choose potentially dangerous actions that cause major service disruptions, BART police are prepared to enforce the law and ensure public safety."
Other protests are in store as well.
Protesters plans to gather at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland on Monday, the national day recognizing Martin Luther King Jr., where Oscar Grant III was shot and killed by a BART police officer on Jan. 1, 2009.
Bay City News contributed to this report.
