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BART protests continue in downtown San FranciscoSep 12, 2011 (The Oakland Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- SAN FRANCISCO -- BART protesters gathered at City Hall briefly Monday night but police called for them to disperse or risk being arrested and they returned to Civic Center Plaza and Market Street. Protesters, including those from the hacker group Anonymous, have marched along Market Street and down into the Powell Street and Civic Center BART stations, chanting "no justice, no peace, disband the BART police." This is the fifth demonstration since the July 3 shooting by BART police of Charles Hill, a 45-year-old homeless man, at the Civic Center station. BART police said Hill was intoxicated, and threatened officers with a broken vodka bottle and a knife. Monday's protest started at 5 p.m. and so far no stations have been closed and no service has been disrupted. Protesters say they will continue the Monday night protests until BART meets their demands: the disbanding of BART police and the firing of Linton Johnson, the head of the transit agency's communications department. They are also calling on BART authorities to not limit "free speech," following the agency on Aug. 11 shut off cell phone service in the Civic Center station to disrupt a brewing protest there. That protest failed to materialize because demonstrators were unable to communicate with each other. Both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are investigating the group, which claims to have no formal or centralized leadership. A protest was not held last Monday because of the Labor Day holiday, but the group protested on Thursday night. Police then arrested dozens of people and at least six professional and student journalists, prompting the transit police to review its guidelines on handling media. ___ (c)2011 The Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Calif.) Visit The Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Calif.) at www.insidebayarea.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |