A Brief History of BART Protests

1991

Hard Train Lockdown

January 28: The AIDS activist group Act Up called for a day of action on January 28, the day George H.W. Bush was scheduled to give his "State of the Union" speech. The rallying cry was that San Francisco had become a "disaster area" with nearly 7,000 dead from the AIDS crisis. Amongst numerous related actions across San Francisco that day, an AP story reported that "AIDS activists chained themselves to a commuter train.... BART spokesman Sy Mouber said the demonstrators attached themselves to a Concord-bound train at 7:30 a.m. with a chain that ran from the train to an escalator." Ten people were arrested.

2009

Rally Outside Station / Mounting fare gates

January 7: On January 1 on the Fruitvale station platform, Oscar Grant and his friends were abused by BART police officers Tony Pirone and Marisol Domenici before Oscar Grant was shot in the back by officer Johannes Mehserle. A large public rally to protest the murder was held on January 7 outside of Fruitvale station. After protesters took the fare gates, BART responded by closing the station but allowed trains from other stations to pass through. No BART-related arrests.
Fruitvale BART Station Rally Followed by Riots in the Streets of Oakland

March & Protest near bart station

January 30 & 31: As a protest march passed 12th Street BART station, BART officials closed the metal gates to the station, thereby temporarily closing the station to all but passing trains. No BART-related arrests.
After gathering in front of Oakland City Hall the following evening, demonstrators read demands for police accountability near an entrance to the 12th Street station. Two speakers spoke at the top of the stairs to the BART entrance. As they spoke, the security gates were closed. No arrests.
Protests in Oakland as Mehserle's Bail Set

Board meeting takeover

February 12: Community activists and leaders both political and religious attended a BART Board of Directors meeting to voice their concerns about the Board's inadequate response to the abuse and murder of Oscar Grant III on January 1st. After a half hour of being largely ignored by the Board, the activists assumed control of the meeting and unfurled a banner in the room. Demands were issued. No arrests.
Community Groups Assume Control of BART Meeting and Demand Justice for Oscar Grant

station protest

March 5: No Justice No BART held their first in a series of actions at the Fruitvale BART station. The Fruitvale station was chosen as the first target as it's where Oscar Grant III was murdered. While this action was not a complete shut down of the station because police funneled passengers in and out of the station through a back door, demonstrators did block the fare gates at Fruitvale for two full hours, meaning that BART collected no money at the station during the rush hour commute. No arrests.
No Justice No BART Stages First Action at Fruitvale Station

station protest

March 19: After successfully blocking the fare gates at Fruitvale BART in their first demo, NJNB chose the BART station in the upscale Rockridge neighborhood for their second demonstration on March 19th. At Rockridge though, BART's own riot police, or "Tactical Team," didn't wait for the protest to start — they were already set up with chemical and other weapons ready to go and barricades around the escalators before the protest even began. Despite not having completely shut down a station to date, NJNB has been doing community outreach in order to increase the size of the demos at BART stations around the Bay Area.
Second No Justice No BART Demo Hit Rockridge BART Station

Board meeting takeover / Paint thrown on gm

April 9: No Justice No BART assumed control of the agenda for the BART Board meeting, which previously had been set to cover the raising of BART fares and the reducing of train service later this year. Demonstrators took turns voicing their objections to the lack of accountability and the apparent cover-up attempts at BART regarding the murder of Oscar Grant. After numerous speakers, a demonstrator independently threw red paint onto BART General Manager Dorothy Dugger and was tackled and arrested by police. No other arrests.
NJNB Presses for Public Meetings and Accountability; Separately, Paint Thrown on BART GM

Handbills on trains and stations

July 16: No Justice No BART boarded BART trains to inform thousands of people about what happened on the Fruitvale BART platform moments before Oscar Grant was murdered, and the lies told by Police Chief Gary Gee shortly thereafter. Most people NJNB spoke with on the trains and in the stations were not aware of the facts revealed at Johannes Mehserle's preliminary hearing. No arrests.
No Justice No BART Takes the Truth to the Trains

2010

Vigil at station

January 1: Two events took place in Oakland to commemorate the murder of Oscar Grant by BART police on New Year's Day 2009. The first was a vigil at the Fruitvale BART station organized by Oscar Grant's family, where a political and multi-faith group spoke. The Fruitvale station remained open throughout. In the evening, the community gathered at the Humanist Hall in Oakland for an artistic and cultural night dedicated to networking and education. No arrests.
One-Year Anniversary of Oscar Grant Murder Marked in Oakland

multiple station slowdown & closures

April 8: Over 200 people demonstrated in San Francisco BART stations. As people gathered for the action, tension was thick, as a demonstration inside a BART station had not been attempted before. Consensus was reached with those on the platform to take trains between stations in downtown San Francisco. Chants of "No justice, no rush" rang out — and demonstrators deliberately slowed their walk onto different trains in order to disrupt BART's normal rush hour schedule. BART police and green-vested employees followed protesters — who chanted, played drums and horns — on trains to Montgomery, Powell St and Civic Center stations. Police attempted to stop the successful disruption of service by pushing or pulling demonstrators out of train car doorways, sometimes stepping in front of the doorways, refusing to allow more to enter or exit trains. BART's normal rush hour schedule was disrupted and delayed about 15 minutes in both directions by the action. One person was arrested on misdemeanor charges related to disrupting BART traffic. All charges were dropped.
BART Action Disrupts Trains with "No Justice, No Rush" in San Francisco | VIDEO

2011

multiple station slowdown & closures

July 11: At least 150 demonstrators converged at the Civic Center station to protest the killing of Charles Hill one week earlier. Protesters promised to disrupt the Bay Area Rapid Transit system's business as usual. "They succeeded," BART PR spokesman Linton Johnson was forced to concede on the day of action as three of the busiest downtown San Francisco stations were forced to close and trains were disrupted for over two hours. Demonstrators began by marching around the edges of the station platform. The action heated up quickly when protesters held the doors of a train and another attempted to climb onto the top of the train. Green-vested BART employees were able to pull down the person who had climbed a train car, but were unable to forcibly dislodge protesters standing in train doorways. Within minutes, BART riot police began filling the station. Approximately a third to a half of the demonstrators rode the train eastward to the Powell station and then proceeded to hold train doors there. As Civic Center station was closed by BART, those demonstrators who had remained in the station walked to Powell. Mobile demonstrators continued to ride trains and hold doors, delaying numerous BART trains throughout downtown, from Powell Street station to 16th Street Mission station. In time, BART additionally closed the Powell station, as it overfilled with both Civic Center passengers and protesters. Not long after, 16th Street Mission station was closed as well due to ongoing disruptions by protesters. Once the 16th Street station was closed, demonstrators abandoned the BART system at 6:30pm and took over several streets in a march to the Powell Street trolley car turnaround. A massive presence by SFPD prevented the march from continuing on through the Union Square area upscale shopping district. Demonstrators dispersed on their own as planned shortly after 7pm.
Justice for Charles Hill BART Action Shuts Three Stations in San Francisco

Weekly protests and multiple station closures

August 11: To preempt a protest that never happened, BART cut power to the underground mobile phone antennas within the BART system for several hours, denying tens of thousands of evening commuters access to the Internet, telephone service, and even 911 calls. In response, a whole new round of weekly protests were held in and around San Francisco BART stations. At least six weekly protests began above ground, but ventured through downtown stations and streets. BART began to claim that protests on platforms were a safety concern and arrested those who dared to chant or display a banner inside of a BART station. BART repeatedly closed entrances and entire stations as protesters approached. At one demonstration, protesters forcibly opened a shuttered BART entrance gate and several ran into the station. Protesters often marched through city streets to get between stations, and SFPD became involved with street level marches. Numerous arrests were made by BARTPD and SFPD over the course of the next two months.
BART Pulls Plug on Cell Phone Antennas to Silence Potential Protest

in station protest kettled

September 8: The announced intention was to “protest” outside of the fare gates, inside the Powell Street BART station. The strategy was made public and the action announced well ahead of time, to preempt some of the media furor around “inconvenienced” passengers and to create a “Catch-22” for BART. Since BART has been very clear in insisting that demonstrators should “protest outside the fare gates" in a supposed "free speech zone," BART would have a choice. If enough people were mobilized, in order to keep riders moving into and out of the station, BART would have to 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 past No Justice No BART protests. On the day of the protest, demonstrators gathered at Powell Street station, chanting and holding signs. No fare gates were ever blocked. Within a half hour, BART riot police kettled dozens of protesters and reporters. BART police handcuffed numerous journalists, requesting that SFPD confiscate their SFPD police press passes. Two Indybay journalists were arrested, along with over 22 protesters.
No Justice No BART and Allies Call for "Spare the Fare" Protest in Powell Street BART

station physically attacked

September 8: Shortly after protesters were kettled and arrested at Powell Street station, another group "attacked" Glen Park BART station in South San Francisco, sabotaging fare machines, turnstyles and the facade of the station. No arrests were made.
Glen Park BART attacked (VIDEO)

2014

Hard Train Lockdown

November 28: Blackout Black Friday took place across the nation with community activists shutting down business as usual the day after Thanksgiving, the "biggest shopping day of the year," commonly known as Black Friday. Activists using lockboxes at the West Oakland BART station stopped all trains heading to San Francisco, denying/delaying access for thousands of suburban consumers making their way to commercial districts such as Union Square. Fourteen people were arrested. BART and Alameda County district attorney Nancy O'Malley are seeking a ransom of $70,000 from the Black Friday 14 for supposed lost fares that day.
Bay Area Shuts It Down for Mike Brown After No Indictment for Darren Wilson

2015

STATION PLATFORM PROTEST / possible station shutdowns all day

January 16: 7am protest at Montgomery BART Station on the main underground platform has been planned autonomously in response to the Anti-Police-Terrorism Project's call for a “Reclaiming King's Legacy" action weekend. One of the demands of protesters is for BART to drop all the charges and fines against the BlackFriday14. Autonomous affinity group "red" actions are possible throughout the entire BART system all day.
#BARTFriday: NO BUSINESS AS USUAL #BlackLivesMatter Reclaiming King's Legacy / Bay Area plans 96 hours of action as part of national call to “Reclaim King’s Legacy”