(10-31) 13:56 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- BART closed three East Bay stations for a time this morning, one of them twice, after hundreds of youths jumped fare gates on their way to a protest in San Francisco against federal immigration policies, authorities said.
Transit system officials warned that they might shut down San Francisco stations this afternoon if protesters try to jump fare gates again on their way out of town. The Fruitvale and Coliseum stations in Oakland and the Richmond station were all closed starting about 9:15 a.m. as the youths evaded fares. All three reopened by 10:30 a.m., but BART closed the Fruitvale station for a second time from about 11 a.m. to just before noon as more youths jumped the gates. When the station reopened, security officers with dogs stood watch to make sure everyone paid. In addition to the station closures, some BART trains bound for San Francisco were delayed at the West Oakland station by protesters holding doors open and demanding that Fruitvale be reopened, passengers and BART officials said. No injuries were reported in the mass fare-evasion scheme, which took BART officials by surprise. BART spokesman Linton Johnson said it appeared that the youths had made a coordinated decision to jump the fare gates. Police detained three people at the Richmond station. Johnson did not know whether anyone was arrested. The protesters were heading to a rally at Ferry Park on San Francisco's Embarcadero, where they began a noontime march through the Financial District opposing enforcement actions taken by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The protest briefly tied up traffic on several streets but was peaceful. BART officers have been dispatched to the demonstration to monitor the crowds and are prepared to shut down stations again if people try to jump the fare gates on the way out of San Francisco, Johnson said around 1:30 p.m. "Our mission is to try to keep the stations open, but our No. 1 priority is to keep our passengers safe," Johnson said. He said extra BART officers have been called in early on overtime. There already were plans to beef up the force to handle the Halloween celebrators expected to pack BART trains tonight. One of the protest organizers, Sagnicthe Salazar, said the students detained at the Richmond BART station had been "trying to peacefully get to the action in San Francisco." Salazar, who is with an East Bay youth organization called Huaxtex, acknowledged that protesters were jumping fare gates. She said the demonstrators were organized independently and had no funding. Outside the Fruitvale station, fuming would-be passengers were forced to wait out the delays before they could get on a train. "I am on my way to a family emergency and no, I'm not in a good way right now," said Lisa Roellig of Oakland, whose mother was in a hospital. At the rally in Ferry Park, protesters said the BART ride from the East Bay was tense as students delaying trains argued with commuters and other passengers. "This was a peaceful protest. We were not trying to start anything," said Kenya Ramirez, 17, who traveled from San Diego for the rally. "We were just trying to get our message out. Our message is civil disobedience. " She said the students held train doors open at several stations so fare jumpers could get on board. "The other people were getting upset because they had someplace to go," she said. "We're doing it for them. They were being a little selfish." Students from Oakland's Leadership Charter School, Richmond High School and Contra Costa Community College were among the roughly 400 protesters. Many of the students wore skull makeup on their faces and yellow ribbons on their arms and carried signs denouncing immigration policies as well as the detention and deportation of immigrants. Shortly after noon, the protesters marched up Washington Street with a police escort to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service building at 630 Sansome St. Several chained themselves together near an entrance to the building around 1:30 p.m. E-mail the writers at carolynjones@ sfchronicle. com<carolynjones%40sfchronicle.com> , [EMAIL PROTECTED] le.com <mstannard%40sfchronicle.com>, [EMAIL PROTECTED] .com <jtucker%40sfchronicle.com> and [EMAIL PROTECTED] .com <rgordon%40sfchronicle.com>. __._,_ -- Shaun 773.828.4336 917.755.7409 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Internet group address: http://groups.google.com/group/ChicagoMayDay To send e-mail: [email protected] To unsuscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
