“I’ve got my lunch here,” one participant said. “Very threatening as you can see.”
It was a defiant lunchtime eat-in on the platform inside the Embarcardero BART station, where eating isn’t allowed.
John Reimann lives in Oakland. He explained, “My first political awakening was back at a lunch counter in the ’60s, now we’re back to ‘eat-ins.’”
About 30 people gathered for lunch on the platform to protest an incident recently captured on cellphone video at the Pleasant Hill BART station.
Steve Foster of Concord said he was detained, even handcuffed, by a BART police officer because he was eating a sandwich while waiting for a train. “I’m definitely upset,” Foster said. “Mad, a little frustrated, still kind of angry about it.”
BART said state law prohibits people from eating or drinking in the paid portions of the station.
Law or not, Kelly Groth was passing out breakfast sandwiches for what she called “Brunch on BART.” Groth said, “People should be able to eat on the platforms and not get harassed.”
John Jacobo is against the no eating on platform law. He said, “I wanted to make sure I showed up and stood in solidarity and ate on this plaza which I’ve done hundreds of times and watched hundreds of people all the time before and show what they did was beyond embarrassing for BART police.”
And in the middle of this protest, we were surprised to find a member of the BART board of directors. BART board member Janice Li brought her own lunch. She believes there are bigger issues to deal with. She said, “I realize that some things are illegal by California penal code, but I want to be mindful how we’re using resources to enforce our system.”
The full video shows that Foster did insult the officer and used a homophobic slur.
In a statement, Bart said about foster: “He was not arrested. He was cited for eating which is a violation of state law. The man was lawfully handcuffed after refusing to provide his name multiple times, once he provided his name he was cited and released.”
BART said the video will be reviewed by their independent police auditor.
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