Protesters will not be taking the Labor Day holiday off, as the Civic Center BART station will be the site of another anti-BART protest this evening.
For the fourth consecutive Monday, plans have been announced to hold a protest at the Civic Center station at 5 p.m. today, according to the OpBART Twitter account.
The current wave of protests began in response to BART’s decision to shut down cellphone service at several San Francisco stations on Aug. 11 during a protest against the BART police shooting of 45-year-old Charles Hill in July.
Last Monday’s protest resulted in the arrests of two people at the Embarcadero station, but no stations were closed and all trains ran on time, BART officials said.
During the protest the previous week, two stations were shut down and more than 40 people were arrested.
The difference last week was that demonstrators did not enter the stations. The OpBART Twitter account has reminded protesters not to pass through the fare gates this time, either.
Unlike in previous weeks, BART has not issued a warning to riders about today’s protest in part because there are fewer passengers because of the holiday, BART spokesman Jim Allison said.
A separate BART protest by the group “No Justice, No BART”–the group that organized the Aug. 11 protest against the shooting of Hill–is planned for Thursday.
Hill was fatally shot on the platform of the Civic Center station by BART police on July 3 after he allegedly wielded knives and a broken bottle as weapons during a confrontation with two officers.
“No Justice, No BART,” which was formed after the BART police shooting of Oscar Grant III on New Year’s Day 2009, says on its Twitter account it will protest outside the fare gates of the Powell Street station on Thursday.
However, the group also said that if BART interferes with the protest, it will move down onto the platform and possibly disrupt train service.
The group is holding a news conference at 4:30 p.m. today to give details about its plan.
Zack Farmer, Bay City News
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