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Indybay Feature

Bart Board Meeting April 9th '09

by Hans Scholl
On Thursday April 9th, members of the community including the group No Justice No Bart attended the BART board of directors meeting to express their outrage at the board over the ongoing cover-up surrounding the murder of Oscar Grant. While members of No Justice No Bart spoke to the board about BART's incompetent handling of the case, a protester allegedly rushed forward and splattered red paint from a cup onto BART General Manager Dorothy Dugger.
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The protester then yelled "The blood on BART's hands is real!" or something to that effect. He was chased around the room for a moment by BART police, then arrested and taken away. BART police then cleared the room while people tried to continue speaking at the rostrum. About 20 minutes after clearing the room the public was allowed back in, Oscar Grant's Godmother and another individual were allowed to speak briefly, but members of No Justice No Bart were prevented from speaking further. Representatives of No Justice No Bart on the scene were heard condemning the action and disassociating themselves from the paint throwing protester. The meeting remained closed to the public until after this reporter left.
§Oscar Grant's Godmother Addresses the BART board.
by Hans Scholl
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§confusion.
by Hans Scholl
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§BART police chief Gee following the arrested protester.
by Hans Scholl
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§Tan jacket man is a plainclothes cop.
by Hans Scholl
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§Red shirt man is also believed to be a plainclothes cop.
by Hans Scholl
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§Police continue to try to clear the room.
by Hans Scholl
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§The paint spattered desk.
by Hans Scholl
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§Another shot of the desk.
by Hans Scholl
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Comments (Hide Comments)
by you go gabe!
mad props, dude. although it would have been better if you'd painted chief Gee. or at least waited till after NJNB finished speaking. although its tough to publicly support a diversity of tactics without a diversity of times and spaces, I still hope they don't keep you locked up too long. Salud!
by huh
he gave an interview to channel 7 I think when everyone was waiting outside in the hallway after the paint incident.

I asked him what he said to the media and he said that he told them that he disagreed with much of what njnb had to say and that people just needed to wait for the system to work everything out on its own, more or less. without any prompting at all, he specifically told me that he did not work for bart, and I think he told me that he wasn't a cop, either of which are odd things to volunteer to a stranger at a bart meeting. I asked him if he lived in oakland and he hemmed and hawed, which made is seem like he doesn't and that makes even more sense if he's a cop as hardly any who work in oakland live here

kinda fucked up for this guy make statements to the media like that, but even more so if he's 5-0
by nojusticenobart
640_oscar_grant_11x17.jpg
print it up and get it up at your home, work, etc.
forward to justice!
by deanosor (deanosor [at] mailup.net)
from when he was charged with lynching (he was aquitted) in a demonstration in San Francisco where the cops attacked him and tried to choke him to death. He is a very nice guy, and a gentle human being. Even tho i was not there that day, and i can't speak to the specifcs of the timing of his alleged action, I support his (alleged) act of redecoration, and hope he gets out soon. It seems like cointelpro type trolls (calling him a loose cannon, and dangerous) are coming out big time to slander him. Folks, we must support other activists, even if we disagree with their tactics.
by a-feminist
"Folks, we must support other activists, even if we disagree with their tactics."

Yup! Play nice with the family though, and yes, totally agreed.
From what I've heard and read about the meeting with the BART Board, some folks are evidently concerned that, as a result of Gabe's more or less harmless act (we're talking about paint stains), BART will not agree to further engagement with the public over the OUTRIGHT MURDER perpetrated on Oscar Grant by one of its employees.

Does this make ANY sense?

BART, in adopting such a stance, would merely be revealing the depths of its corruption and cynicism, and its utter indifference to the public.

Gabe's action was apparently no mistake -- nor should anybody with a heart feel the need to apologize for it.
by a-feminist
...with people's lives once again, and they're using the paint-throwing as an excuse to shut down the dialogue that they didn't really want in the first place. And as has been noted, all this in the wake of calling the murder of Oscar Grant a "horrible mistake" while standing behind his murderers. Enough, already.
by there
dude, Gabe, what the hell, man? what was the point of that?

ok, here are my thoughts. First, this highlights the necessity of only organizing with people you can trust not to act a fool. If Gabe couldn't stick to the plan for the meeting he shouldn't have rolled with NJNB. Simple. Now NJNB has to do all kinds of explaining about how that wasn't part of the plan and it makes us look like we ain't on top of shit. Now they probably gonna search everyone who wants to come to a board meeting. All the people who talked shit on the window smashing on J-7 have something else to cluck about, when the focus in the media should be on Tony Pirone's actions. Now the press is gonna paint us all as fruitcakes and try to make Dorothy Dugger appear sympathetic, when the focus should be on her being an accomplice to murder. This is not the propaganda we want.

why couldn't it have been a pie? that wouldn't have been so bad. why couldn't you have thrown it on Chief Gee? that would have played better in the media. I hate to mention the obvious, but this was an attack by a man on a woman. all other authoritarian vs. protester roles aside, that looks BAD.

As an Anarchist I'm all for diversity of tactics, but you gotta have different levels of conflict at different times in order for people who want to be safe to feel ok about coming out. That was not an appropriate time for that level of conflict. Also, if you don't want your militant direct action to be reproached by the above ground coalition group which sponsored the event, don't interrupt them when they in the middle of they shit! If he' waited until after NJNB had finished with the board we wouldn't have been tarred with the same brush, and we could have used the action effectivly by saying, "see? if you don't want to negotiate with us you'll have to deal with guys like this." But the way it went down yesterday I don't think the board is gonna want to work with Kr. and Ev., who are two really gifted organizers.

I personally would never TRY to get arrested. I can't understand the motivation to do so. Once you're arrested, they got you. they can keep you as long as they want, and take all your money. especially for a crime like this. When I think of all the other illegal activist shit one could do and not get popped, this just seems like a huge waste of time.

In the end, I have to chalk this one up to Gabe having some personal problems. He seemed really agitated at the meeting, I wish someone had taken a moment to talk to him. I wish he had clued someone in on his plan and let them talk him out of it. I know he's been having some problems with employment and was planning on moving from the area, and I think that the stress of his private life pushed him to make a very public mistake. Hey probably figured everyone would applaud him, but he made some serious miscalculations in the execution of his act that I think preclude a community consensus of supporting his painting. If you know Gabe, I urge you to support him by being a friend and talking to him. Hook him up with a place to stay, or steady employment. He needs community support to get his life back in order, but I don't think he should be getting patted on the back at his arraignment. we have plenty of political prisoners who didn't choose to get arrested that need our legal support. I hope he gets released soon and can put this behind him
by @
totally a cop. check out how he rushes forward with the rest of em in the CBS 5 video:

http://cbs5.com/local/BART.board.protest.2.980934.html

by yup
I saw that too, him rushing forward to respond to paint incident just like a cop would
by a-feminist
You've summed up something that happens a lot, and that I think we all need to be aware of. All too often, the sense of community that goes on in activist circles around here is pretty superficial, and doesn't really address what is going on in people's lives; there's "no time for that". Well, if you don't make the time, who is gonna? Not to mention that if we don't make the time, this is the kind of thing that happens -- people get agitated, and shit breaks down, which is nobody's fault, but it *IS* something that we all need to take responsibility for. Judging by what people are saying, this was an well-intentioned but ill-timed move, and if that does turn out to be the case, you lined out some really good responses that are both thoughtful and practical.
by support gabe
by denouncing the courage they seek to justify their own cowardice. organizers often act as the fifth branch of the government, and as such bureaucrats often denounce the youth who is more alive than them. by distancing themselves from him they help the police justify his imprisonment. by the way, did y'all know that BARTs elevators are built by Thyssen-Krupp, a reconstituted German NAZI corporation? Fritz Thyssen the steel magnate was the top financier of the Nazi party and built the original headquarters. The Krupps family were the premier Nazi weapons company. I shit you not. look it up on wikipedia. fuck the police !
by Inge
There was horrible timing involved with that move. It disrupted the demand for action that the others were making before the BARt board.
Gabe's life was really disrupted during the G8 demo case a few years ago. The video showed that he hadn't been doing anything threatening other than holding a large sign, but he ended up losing his job due to the publicity and time, and he wasn't supported in court by the community. It had to be really stressful. Right now people with computer science and law degrees are having a hard time finding jobs, much less someone with bad internet hits or court history


BTW, I can't believe how much BART is costing lately. The marginal cost of driving is cheaper, until gas prices go above $3 again.
by Seen him at meetings
The guy in red is not a cop, but rather a vigalante type that attends BART meetings to try to defend the BART PD, and the slam critics of them. He is total moron and always says something repulsive and turns everyone, even the cops, off. There is been some speculation if he is payed to do this; I doubt it, unless the police, or their union want an offensive idiot getting up there on the mic and running his mouth. You can tell he is not a cop, because in the video, he comes over to where Gabe is being arrested and the plain clothes cop in the tan jacket, points his finger and tells him to go back and sit down.

His name is Kevin( unsure of his last name) and has been linked to vigilante groups and is part of the cities' citizen volunteer security patrol in downtown Oakland.
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