Feature Archives

FireWorks writes: From the blockading of Google buses to the blockading of major freeways. From riots against white supremacy and police in Oakland to anti-tech and gentrification brawls in San Francisco, 2014 was an explosive year. Battles erupted in a variety of places and around various issues. This year in review looks at some of the key struggles and outbreaks of rebellion that shook the bay area to its core.

The war over abortion once again hit the streets of San Francisco on January 24. Ever since 2005 the anti-abortion religious community has been holding an annual gathering called the "Walk for Life" on or near the anniversary of the Roe vs Wade Supreme Court decision. The pro-lifers come in buses from all over California, and other parts of the West to push their message that “abortions should be banned by law." Only a small group of SF’ers, compared to the pro-lifers, get out and counter-protest, but they still do it every year.

This is a very brief history of known protests at and/or inside BART stations and/or trains. Follow links for more information. This BART protest history focuses mostly on notable firsts. Not every action since January 7, 2009, has been listed in order to keep this somewhat brief, but examples of each type of action have been included. If you are aware of significant actions or types not represented in this chart, please leave a comment below with a link to coverage of the protest.

In Oakland, hundreds of people from more than two dozen groupings organized in response to the Anti Police-Terror Project’s call to come together for ninety-six hours of direct action over the Martin Luther King Day weekend. The first action announced was a protest inside Montgomery BART station in San Francisco at 7am on Friday. The weekend’s events culminated in a Jobs and Economy March for the People on Monday, January 19. Other groups organized more MLK-related events in Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond, San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Palo Alto, Santa Cruz, and throughout Northern California.

On December, 15, Spain passed the "ley de mordaza", a gag law that makes it a crime to insult a cop, film a cop, or assemble in large groups. On December 16, seven anarchists were arrested on charges relating to terrorism. On December 22, a group of anarchists stormed the Spanish consulate in San Francisco. After throwing leaflets into the consulate, tipping over the Spanish flag, and yelling curses, the group left without incident.

The Indymedia (Independent Media Center) project started in late November of 1999, to allow participants in the anti-globalization movement to report on the protests against the WTO meeting that took place in Seattle, Washington, and to act as an alternative media source. The San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center, commonly known as Indybay, started in 2000. By 2002, there were 89 local IMCs around the world spread between 31 countries (plus the West Bank) and 6 continents. By January 2006, the Indymedia network had grown to over 150 Indymedia outlets around the world.

As expected, the grand jury tasked with determining if there was enough evidence for charging Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for the murder of Mike Brown determined that there wasn’t probable cause. That night, on November 24, people in Ferguson and across the country began to rise up for Mike Brown and blocked freeways, city streets, and more. Fires were set, merchandise taken from stores, and, on Black Friday, BART was disrupted in West Oakland and shopping centers shut down in San Francisco. Protests continued throughout the week, culminating on the annual Black Friday shopping day and continuing into the weekend.