BART Stations Reopen After Spoon-Banging Protesters Hop Stations, Disrupt Downtown San Francisco Trains
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- BART service in San Francisco has resumed with some delays Friday morning after ongoing protests forced closures at the Embarcadero, Montgomery Street and Powell Street BART stations.
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BART had warned riders that protests this morning could disrupt service. Based on ridership estimates released by spokeswoman Alicia Trost, it seems that many commuters heeded that warning -- BART ridership was down 24,000 compared to Thursday.
The hundreds of protesters initially gathered below street level at the Montgomery station around 7 a.m.
When a train approaching from the East Bay pulled up to the station and did not open it's doors to let passengers out, protesters began clinking metal spoons against the metal pillars in the station.
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A loud clanging sound, resulting from hundreds of people with spoons hitting metal, could be heard across the station beginning around 7:10 a.m.
At least two people were arrested for blocking BART train doors and banging their spoons on the cars. A male protester was detained and dragged off the platform by BART police at about 7:15 a.m.
Shortly before 7:30 a.m. the crowd of protesters began to ascend to street level and announced plans to march to Embarcadero station.
The protesters, chanting "Black Lives Matter" and clinking their metal spoons against the ground, pillars and trains, began to file off the platform, carrying signs.
One sign had the word "Justice" scrawled in blood-red paint and another was adorned with photos of those who had recently been killed by law enforcement.
At Embarcadero station, BART police stopped protesters from entering the platform, leading the crowd to gather outside the station and head back to Montgomery Street Station and then to the Powell Street station.
A protester with Stop Mass Incarceration Bay Area, Joey Johnson, said he came to today's protest because he said "there is a slow genocide going on" but that's it's so commonplace that people have adjusted to it.
It's an "intolerable situation," he said.
BART and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency warned riders that the protest could disrupt service.
The protest was planned as part of a 96-hour weekend-long direct series of action events ending in a March in Oakland on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
BART police Lt. Aaron Ledford said they would be fully staffed all weekend, but admitted the simultaneous protests at Embarcadero, Montgomery and Powell Stations were a bit of a scramble.
"It's never enough, but we did have quite a few today. It depends on the nature of the protest what the plan is, how many people are going to be there and in this case we had multiple locations so it made it difficult, but I think it worked out fairly well," he said.
UPDATE 7:25 a.m.: BART officials say trains will run through Montgomery Sation in both directions; operators urged to use caution.
UPDATE 7: 30 a.m.: KCBS' Holly Quan reports about 100 protesters carrying #Blacklivsmatter signs are on the platform banging spoons loudly.
UPDATE 7:34 a.m.: A large group of protesters split off at Montgomery Station and are headed to the Embarcadero Station.
UPDATE 7:41 a.m.: At least one protester has been arrested. A male protester was detained and dragged off the platform by BART police at about 7:15 a.m.
UPDATE 7:48 a.m.: BART says Montgomery Station is back open and trains are stopping but said that the trains are not stopping at the Embarcadero Station. All Muni Metro Trains are still running at both stations.
UPDATE 7:52 a.m.: KPIX 5's Anne Makovec reports that a woman was being arrested by BART Police at the Montgomery Street BART Station.
UPDATE 8:08 a.m.: BART trains are running through Montgomery Station again. If headed from the East Bay, plan to exit at Powell Street Station.
UPDATE 8:20 a.m.: All Muni Metro stations are open and trains are open and running normally. They have not been affected by the BART protests.
UPDATE 8:38 a.m: The BART Powell Street station is now closed. Trains from the East Bay to San Francisco will stop at Embarcadero and Montgomery Street Stations.
UPDATE 9:05 a.m.: KCBS' Holly Quan reports the protesters stopped promptly at 9 a.m. stopped banging their metal spoons on the platform at Montgomery Station. One organizer called it a "successful protest" and that they will continue carry out more demonstrations until the charges against the #BlackLivesMatter protesters are dropped.
Still long after the spoon banging stopped, one man continued his counter protest:
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