#OpBART 2 - until BART announces they will no longer censor people

Yes to freedom of speech
Yes to freedom of assembly
Yes to freedom to march
Yes to direct action
Yes to self -determination

No to police
No to free speech zones
No to protest permits
No to march detours
No to pacifism
No to pacified resistance EVERY WHERE!

-a-

http://motormouthnews.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/fire-linton-johnson-wanted-poster/

Linton Johnson, while annoying and a mouth piece and a tool etc, et al, ad nauseum, is sooooooo not the problem. Thoughts?

The problem is a power structure that predates upon the destitute and poor, most notably those with plenty of melanin and those vulnerable because of youth or advanced age, mobility problems, mental impairment or instability, or any combination of the same, while using folks like Linton Johnson to get away with it.

Not to let Linton Johnson entirely off the hook--we are all accountable for our actions--but don't we have bigger fish to fry here? Johnson is but a mouth-piece; he's not calling the shots.

Every time you hear a lie come out of bart he's a big part of it. He doesn't just act on orders but creates many of the lies himself on his own authority as PR hack. The board doesn't even know what he's up to 3/4 of the time until they read about it on the papers.

It was his idea to cut phone service and he seems really proud and snide about that idea.

Linton is as responsible for the ills at bart as anyone, as much as Dugger or Gee or any of them.

Please stop defending him if you don't know all the facts.

I don't see anybody in the above thread defending Linton Johnson.

But to focus all of the problems with BART--with the BART police, and the immunity they've enjoyed in conducting murders and abuses--- on Linton Johnson in particular, when plenty of BART administrators have been equally complicit and are in positions of greater power, is something I find problematic.

Yes, according to the information that is publicly available (including Linton Johnson's own words as reported in various media), Mr. Johnson claims credit for coming up with the idea to disrupt cell phone service.

Nobody who has commented in this thread, however, has defended him for doing so.

And, although Mr. Johnson claims credit for the idea of disrupting cell service, he was not the one who authorized it; at least not according to such information that is publicly available. But if you have better information than I, please do share!

See, for instance, the following:

http://www.newsobserver.com/.../ca-transit-agency-under-fire-over.html

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/.../hackers-gain-access-to-transit.html

http://www.baycitizen.org/bart-police-shooting/story/

It's a huge distraction here to be repeating over and over, "Leave poor Linton out of it," or "There are other problems at BART."

He is not even named in the protest announcement here, even though he was a key player in the cell phone debacle, but Linton is one of the problems and he is fairly named in the wanted poster above.

You want to name other specific characters at BART that should be targeted, then go ahead and do so. You want to call other actions with other goals, that's your prerogative.

As it is, all I see is a bunch of running interference for Linton in the comments and nothing but vague proclamations about the rest of BART.

Because they know, by keeping the masses of sheep in check, dumbed down, overworked to exhaustion and sedated with alcohol and drugs and prescription meds THEY CAN ALWAYS MANIPULATE US! THEY CAN KILL US! THEY CAN LOCK US UP! THEY CAN TURN US AGAINST ONE ANOTHER! The American population is so lost they probably won't unite and rebel until the stock market crashes and turns them into poverty. Shit will just keep getting cooped by politicians because the American public is too stupid to catch-on to things. Some new black man will come along and attack Obama and promise things will be different and give a whole list of circumstance why things we're possible and why today is so much different than yesterday. It's all the same line of bullshit that never comes but hey I'm just one person who knows whats up so it really doesn't make a difference that I know whats going on.

on cnn, there is pic of candlestick shootings, the cop on the left of the photo is SMILING! just another day in violent america. cops laugh while you get injured. they dont care about you. media is like mc donalds of ''news''. slaughterhouse ''america''. police are violent liars.

I'm pretty sure that people aren't saying "leave poor Linton out of it", it's more of a "let's not use sacrificial swine here". To put the blame on any one person really detracts from the fundamental point that police are an inherently oppressive force and need to be abolished. Saying "Get this guy! It's HIS fault!" really is little better than the penal system as a whole. This shouldn't be about punishing anyone, it's about making sure this bullshit doesn't happen again, and the only way to do that is to make sure that the position itself no longer exists, not to get some individual fired so another asshole can replace them.

okay, then never target individual bad actors and demand that they be held accountable because that's the same thing as prison

instead do nothing unless your one and only demand is that all police be totally abolished or that the department of public relations at bart no longer exists

nonsense

don't hold your breath on those

but in the meantime you can feel superior demanding total revolution all in one fell swoop (or find satisfaction in disrupting this thread with no real constructive alternative offered, to suit whatever ulterior motives you might have)

Right, because reformism has worked so well in the past. That's why we no longer have oppression, because thousands of years of "reform" have accomplished everything to make this utopia we live in possible.

All we have to do is make sure this one guy is out of a job. Then, there will be less problems than before! I promise, the pig who replaces him will be a million times more cooperative with what we want. Eventually, we can phase out all the bosses and leaders, just like the USSR did!

We've all got common interest. We just need to constantly reminds our selves and one another about the points of unity that exist and try to push forward.

Different groups can be a lot more effective when they work together. We have the potential. We just need to attack the social barriers that have been erected by the system to isolate us and us against each other.

ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE

okay then, so what is the solution that achieves your demands and goals?

how exactly do we get to your brilliant revolution while we ignore individual characters who abuse their authority?

it's a lot easier to disrupt the actions of others and spout holier than thou empty rhetoric than it is to propose an actionable plan and start implementing it, huh?

seriously, what you got? lay it all out for us in a realistic fashion.

yelling "revolution" by yourself on a street corner, or in comments here, ain't gonna cut it. that's either total delusional bullshit or deliberate disruption

'nuff said. put up or shut up, or admit you're here just to disrupt

We aren't terrorists ffs, we don't make "demands." Want to go protest some more police bullshit? F'sho, I'll be there. But don't go around making "demands" like some child who didn't get their candy. Thinking that protesting something with a goal in mind will help anything is completely counterproductive. What do you get when you take to the streets with no "demands"? May 68. What do you get when you start begging daddy dearest not to spank you so hard? June 68. Not that I expect a May 68 reenactment any time soon, but at least I'm not delusional enough to think that getting some dick fired is enough to help anything -- it's the act of protesting itself that's the point.

Also, I don't know how you got in your head I oppose this protest, but that whole "You're a provocateur!" crap doesn't help anything, just forces a chilling effect onto the art of free expression.

I would normally support your right to free speech/protest if it didn't infringe on my right to get to my baby/home after a day's work. Here's a suggestion - Why don't you go shut down the BART offices, instead of the BART system. I had nothing to do w/the decision to shut off your cell service. - Focus your protest, it'll be more effective.

I had no idea a protest meant to bring injustice to the forefront of people's attentions could be so inconveniencing. My apologies. Maybe next time we'll just do it in some activist's house, where nobody can see us at all, that way it's easier to pretend we aren't there.

[sorry if that comes off as kind of dick, but srsly, you're sort of missing the point here... ]

The point is not to work with the real terrorists being BART, BART POLICE and police in general. You can't have a problem killing somebody if you want to be a police officer in the first place and if there were any job in the world to attract a sociopath and or somebody who wants to get away w murder, the police force is the easiest way to go. All cops gave it some thought before they signed up and you can't implement a police state if you have a problem with cops killing people in cold blood. That's bound to happen in a society that embraces greed and mass inequality. It was already decided that if there would be a society where some people had nothing and some people had very little while just a few have everything, a police force would be needed to maintain some fucking law and order. It doesn't take a fucking brain surgeon to figure just what the fuck the occupying force is doing here in da first place. Just like the state, Bart already thought about the possibilities before it incorporated its own pig force. It just didn't think about the consequences and every government has to face them eventually.

The point should never be to negotiate with an occupying army. That is what the police are. They are not your friends. "They are here to protect serve." Protect and serve who above all should be the question every day because every army has a commander and every commander must listen to city officials who are in bed with the rich and there for against the poor (usually poor people of color) so that's what this is all about. Poor people are a potential threat to the establishment because they are the biggest victims.

Police have the media on their side no matter what happens and hate having to report anything they do wrong but if anybody else fucks up, they won't hesitate to have your nuts in a jar. The media is never on our side. Its always the police and when they send us to war they always side with the politician and anybody who speaks out in public against it gets a baton on the head and jail time or a gun in their face.

The people who are supposed to provide us security and freedom of information have sided with people in very high places and none of us are a part of that team. The side of righteousness is on its own. Hackers and protesters are getting it together. We are small now but this is only the beginning. "And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."

or as ''raise the fist'' says, we may not all agree on what we want, but we agree on what we DON"T want. a top down apartheid police system i suppose!

08.21.2011

Passenger Alert: Protests may disrupt BART service Mon., Aug. 22

Please be advised that protesters may attempt to disrupt BART service during the afternoon commute period on Mon., Aug. 22 in downtown San Francisco BART stations.

As always, BART’s primary mission is to ensure your safety and keep trains on-time. BART may need to close some stations temporarily or make other service adjustments on short notice.

Know your alternative transportation plans
Take some time now to plan your transportation options. Visit http://www.511.org for more information about alternative commute options.

Keep informed
BART will use its website, mobile website, text alerts, email alerts and Customer Services phone line to update you on any changes we may make to BART service. You should also consider http://www.511.org and the web, mobile, email and sms services provided there.

Regional travel information: http://www.511.org or dial 511

BART website news/advisories: http://www.bart.gov

BART mobile website news/advisories: m.bart.gov

BART email and SMS advisories: http://www.bart.gov/alerts

BART SMS on demand: Text 'BART service' to 878787 or see http://www.bart.gov/sms for more info

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BART Twitter: @SFBART

Handful of protesters and alot of photographers and media on the Civic Center BART platform. And a lotta cops. Pics ... http://opbart.4ormat.com/

We have no rights and police have the right to do what ever they want to us. This means war.

I support the protests, but wonder why they are targeted at the evening commute and not the morning commute. It seems the morning commute would 1) have just as much impact; 2) not cause so much "I gotta get my kid" anxiety (which is, I must say, totally understandable); and 3) deprive employers and capital of workers and resources instead of depriving people who just got off work some free time.

I think the chances of BART patrons looking favorably on the point of the protests are higher if people are prevented from getting to work than if they are prevented from going home (who doesn't want to be stopped from going to work?). Now, maybe the point for some reason is to get folks to feel the maximum level of frustration and inconvenience, and if that's the point, then you're on the right track. But you're never going to convince too many people when the mainstream media can just turn around a grab someone to say "I'm just trying to get home to my kid."

Just my two cents

bECAUSE More people attend during the evening.