'Bring A Spoon' Demonstrations Planned At Montgomery BART Station During Friday Commute
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF)— Organizers are planning a protest at the Montgomery BART Station Friday, January 16th in solidarity with the Black Friday BART protesters who were arrested last year.
The demonstration could directly affect the morning commute and is set to begin at 7 a.m. according to a post on indybay.org. Included in a brief list of demands is a call to drop all charges and fines against the 14 Black Friday protesters who shutdown West Oakland BART trains at the height of the holiday shopping season.
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Protesters said BART was seeking up to $70,000 in restitution from them, but last week the agency said they'd consider community service from those who were arrested for their disturbance in connection to the grand jury decisions where no charges were brought against white police officers who killed unarmed black men in Ferguson and New York City in recent months.
"These people were making a peaceful protest," said civil rights attorney Jim Chanin. "It was dignified and it was done with no violence whatsoever. If anyone should be gone after and prosecuted, it's people breaking windows, looting stores."
The call to action can be seen as a Facebook event called BART Friday: No Business As Usual. It cryptically says "Bring a metal spoon (you'll find out why)," for those who join. In addition, the call to action includes the following quote from Martin Luther King Jr.: "This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism."
Other demands include; the disbanding of BART police and a ticket discount for low-income BART passengers.
Comments on the CBS San Francisco Facebook page were dubious about the chances of protesters achieving these goals.
"BART is not going to give into their demands which include Bart getting rid of Bart Police force, yeah like that's happening," said Johnny Mai.
"Demonstrate in a meaningful way...stop messing with everyone's lives," said Michelle Lynn Territo.
For the full text of their post on indybay.org, click here.
