A planned protest promoted by “Anonymous” – a loosely organized group of hackers – may disrupt Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) service in downtown San Francisco during Monday’s evening rush hour.

In connection with today’s planned protest, BART said it “may need to close some stations temporarily or make other service adjustments on short notice,” according to an agency statement. BART recommends that passengers plan “transportation options.”

According to media reports, Anonymous also helped to organize last Monday’s protest which temporarily closed four BART stations in San Francisco. The hackers’ group was angered after BART officials cut off cellphone service in San Francisco stations. The original protest stems from a BART police officer shooting and killing Charles Hill on the Civic Center station platform on July 3, 2011.

But BART defends its actions.

“BART’s temporary interruption of cell phone service was not intended to and did not affect any First Amendment rights of any person to protest in a lawful manner in areas at BART stations that are open for expressive activity,” the agency said in a recent statement. “The interruption did prevent the planned coordination of illegal activity on the BART platforms, and the resulting threat to public safety.” 

In another recent statement, Bob Franklin, president of BART’s Board of Directors, said that before the Aug. 11 protest, BART got “credible information that led us to conclude that the safety of the BART system would be compromised. Out of an overriding concern for our passengers’ safety, BART made the decision to temporarily interrupt cell phone service on portions of its system.”

“We are aware that the interruption had the effect of temporarily preventing cellular communications for many BART passengers and their families; and we regret any inconvenience caused by the interruption,” BART added.

BART noted that during the recent protest, “One person climbed on top of a train and many other individuals blocked train doorways and held train doors open. During the course of the event, which occurred during the peak of rush hour, individuals used BART trains to move between stations, and caused the shutdown or partial shutdown of other stations.” 

Franklin added that the cellphone blackout stopped protest organizers from using cellphones to plan their next moves. But Anonymous is sharply critical of BART’s alleged censorship of cellphone service.

“We sincerely hope that this series of actions will serve as a warning to BART and every public organization in the USA to not engage in this sort of dangerous and human rights violating behavior,” Anonymous said on its website.

“From internet censorship to the unnecessary violence inflicted upon unarmed civilians, we’ve all seen what can happen once a portion of us are gagged,” Anonymous added in a statement. “In Egypt and Tunisia, we saw people struggling to make their voices heard.”

“In the Bay Area, we’ve seen people gagged, and once more, Anonymous will attempt to show those engaging in the censorship what it feels like to be silenced,” the group added.

Civil liberties groups, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), also were concerned about BART blocking cellphone service.

“Whether it’s BART or the cell phone carriers that were responsible for the shut-off, cutting off cell phone service in response to a planned protest is a shameful attack on free speech,” the EFF said in a statement.

In addition, Michael Risher, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer, said BART's cellphone blackout could set a precedent for government limiting free speech, according to a story carried on TMCnet.

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