BART Protest

BART *Bay Area Rapid Transit* has really been fucking up lately. The Bay Area commuters depend on BART to get them to and from work, events, concerts, catching there flights at the area airports, and all together help everyone in the area leave a much less lighter carbon footprint by taking the trains.

The outrage started a while back when BART patrol officers shot and killed Oscar Grant, a New Year's reveler who got into an altercation with BART police at the Fruitvale BART station. While being held down on the ground, a BART police officer who thought he reached for his stun gun, reached for this handgun and shot him in the back, thus killing Oscar Grant.

More recently, BART patrol officers shot and killed a homeless man after he came at them with a knife.

This recent barrage of BART Protest comes from whether or not BART can legally shut down cellphone service from on subway platforms.

These cellphone closure practices question whether or not a private company who use public money have the right to restrict it's riders from using their phones, thus infringing on our first amendment right of free speech.

I really think the operable question here is when does any government agency at the local, state, or federal have the right to restrict how we send information to each other during a political protest.

This is what's happening now in the Middle East with their social uprisings. The government shut down cell phone service because they didn't want their protesters communicating with each other via Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks.

The BART Protest are scheduled again for this evenings commute and I just might have to go down and let BART know how I feel.

I love BART but anyone who trys to take away my WiFi has got to go.

xoox