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Protests against police violence shut down S.F. BART stations

Bay Area Rapid Transit halts service to three San Francisco stations because of protests during morning rush hour.

By Frances Burns

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- For the second time in two days, protesters against police violence struck at commuters Friday, this time on San Francisco's transit system.

On Thursday morning, sit-ins north and south of Boston shut down Interstate 93 heading into the city. In San Francisco, 200 protesters descended on a downtown Bay Area Rapid Transit station at 7 a.m. Friday, banging metal spoons against poles and the sides of train cars.

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The group moved on to two other stations. Police said at least two people were arrested on charges of interfering with mass transit, one for striking a train window and the other for blocking a train door.

"That's dangerous because if that glass shatters on someone sitting in the train, someone will get hurt we don't allow things like that," BART police chief Kenton Rainey said of the man who hit a window.

BART suspended service to stations where protests were underway, sending trains through without stopping.

George Cammarota of San Jose held up a sign that said "Black Lives Matter" on the platform at the Montgomery Street station, where the protest began.

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"I'm here to support the movement," he told the San Jose Mercury News. "To stand up to police violence. To let people know black lives matter," Cammarota said.

Also Friday, protesters gathered outside the federal courthouse in Oakland, Calif. Some chained themselves in place, but no arrests were made.

Mira Ingram, a San Francisco woman who is in a wheelchair and missed a doctor's appointment, was so angry at BART for sending the trains through the Montgomery station without stopping that she joined the protest. She said BART violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by the service halt.

Another man was more frustrated with the protesters.

"I guess sometimes you got to speak your mind and do what you got to do for our community but this is noisy and hectic and I just want to get to work and I am late now because they stopped the trains,' Edward Simon of Richmond told KGO-TV.

In addition to police violence, protesters were angry at the arrest of 14 people during a previous demonstration on BART.

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