"Spare the Fare" Press Conference Announces Sept. 8th Protest in Powell Street BART Station: video & photos

PRESS ADVISORY


Who: No Justice No BART and allied community groups
What: Press Conference and announcement of our next BART demonstration
Time: 4:30 PM, Monday, September 5th
Place: Civic Center Station, inside the station but outside the fare gates


Tomorrow, Monday September 5th, No Justice No BART will be hosting a press conference at 4:30 PM inside Civic Center BART station. Along with several other community groups, we are planning a mass action on Thursday, September 8th, at the Powell BART station, to demand Justice for Charles Hill, who was needlessly gunned down by BART police. We will demand that the violent, corrupt, and dangerous BART police force be disbanded.

The press conference will include the release of more detailed information about the upcoming action. This action will likely differ from previous No Justice No BART actions in the following ways:

* Our intention is to protest outside the Powell station fare gates, but we will not block emergency exits to and from the station.

* IF our demonstration is successful, passengers will RIDE BART FOR FREE from Powell. We are calling this a SPARE THE FARE day.

* IF BART Police and Administrators attack or interfere with our protest, we move into BART and onto the platforms, which may cause disruption for passengers.

* We are making our strategy public so that people know what to expect and so that BART administrators know that THEY will be held accountable for all disruptions caused by the actions of their police.


Background:

No Justice No BART is a campaign of protests targeting the BART transit agency. We formed three years ago in the wake of the BART police murder of Oscar Grant and have been fighting since... for justice for Oscar Grant, Fred Collins, Charles Hill, and all victims of BART police violence and murder. Our core demand is that BART disband its murderous, inept, and corrupt police department.

On July 11th, No Justice No BART called a protest on the Civic Center station platform to respond to the BART police killing of Charles Hill. BART to shut down all four downtown stations and the disruption to the evening commute impacted thousands of commuters. This demonstration prompted BART to release the video of the shooting weeks ahead of schedule.

On August 11th, fearing another protest by No Justice No BART, BART shut down its cellular service to prevent protesters from communicating with one another. This draconian and illegal decision prompted a strong and negative reaction from people around the world, from organizations such as the ACLU and EFF, and civil disobedience on the streets and the internet organized by the hactivist group known as “Anonymous”. For the past three weeks, community groups have refrained from taking organizing roles in demonstrations against BART, and instead our members have watched or participated as individuals in the weekly (Monday) actions called by Anonymous. On Thursday we will step off the sidelines.


[No Justice No BART is not affiliated with Anonymous, and none of our actions have been been coordinated by Anonymous.]


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Recent reports in the news media may be confusing passengers about the intentions of protesters who have called for a “SPARE THE FARE” action at Powell St. BART Station tomorrow (Thursday, 9/8).

We have made our protest plans for Thursday very public and very clear because we want to make the public aware that what happens to the evening commute depends entirely on how BART chooses to respond to this protest. If BART shuts down the station, their disruption of service will obviously effect passengers but we will simply move to another station. On the other hand, if BART allows us to protest, passengers will not be inconvenienced.

We want the public to know that our plan for Thursday’s protest is an attempt to see if our protests can effectively command the attention of the BART administration without inconveniencing passengers. We hope for a best case scenario in which, in order to keep riders moving into and out of the station, BART will open the emergency exits and let folks ride for free, just as they do for all sorts of big sporting events, antiwar protests, and even previous No Justice No BART protests.

We cannot guarantee that passengers will ride free, nor are we asking people to attempt to engage in civil disobedience by riding free. And passengers should understand that in the past, BART has often chosen to disrupt service even when it is not necessary, simply to prevent protesters from having any interaction with commuters.

Because BART may choose to disrupt service, and to help commuters adjust to whatever happens, we have committed to posting real time updates to a twitter feed (@nojusticenobart), so the public can find out about the status of the protest, what station we are at, and how BART is dealing with passengers who want to ride the trains.


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