Officials interrupt phone service to stall protest

[gunslingingbird]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Transit officials said Friday they blocked cell phone reception in San Francisco stations for three hours to disrupt a planned demonstrations over a police shooting.

Officials with the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, better known as BART, said they turned off the electricity to cell phone towers in four stations from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday. The move was made after BART learned that protesters planned to use mobile devices to coordinate a demonstration on train platforms.

"A civil disturbance during commute times at busy downtown San Francisco stations could lead to platform overcrowding and unsafe conditions for BART customers, employees and demonstrators," BART officials said in a prepared statement.

We saw this happen in Egypt just before Mubarak was ousted. This time it happened in the US. Was it necessary, or was it an overreaction? Also, do BART's actions infringe on peoples' rights, or do they protect the general public? I understand them not wanting overcrowded platforms (anyone who has ridden BART during rush hour can tell you that those platforms are crowded enough without demonstrations happening), but is it right to do it at the expense of other riders, potentially causing conflict for the passengers (the guy who is calling his wife to let her know he's gonna be late for dinner, or the doctor who needs to keep in contact with the hospital because a patient is in serious condition)? Are we still the "land of the free", or are we just spoon fed that belief?

Story

 

[domshooter]

they shut down cell towers in stations to stop a bullshit protest from happening. if anyone wanted to make a call, they could have gone outside the station and use any other cell tower in the area. it aint that hard. typical bullshit whining from people.

not counting you bird

 

[Supafly]

they shut down cell towers in stations to stop a bullshit protest from happening. if anyone wanted to make a call, they could have gone outside the station and use any other cell tower in the area. it aint that hard. typical bullshit whining from people.

not counting you bird

I understand you are a guy that does not question authority, do you?

Or do you work in the police force and enjoy these new 'Big Brother' methods?

 

[Torre82]

they shut down cell towers in stations to stop a bullshit protest from happening. if anyone wanted to make a call, they could have gone outside the station and use any other cell tower in the area. it aint that hard. typical bullshit whining from people.

not counting you bird

If noone stands up for our rights, no matter how small... we will lose them. It starts with one protest somewhere and ends up being outages anytime the cops want to be fuckign lazy fucktards like they already are.

Those who would give up essentialliberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759 US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 -1790)

 

[Mayhem]

Going digital means giving up freedom. This is the same as TV going off the air and entirely to satellite and cable. When they snipped off our antennas, they snipped off our balls. Now all communications can be controlled/shut down. Sleep tight.















The good news is: Facebook is still up.:thefinger

 

[Ace Boobtoucher]

Everything that they do in the People's Republic of San Francisco is an overreaction. Not the officials. They did the right thing. I was referring to the asshole protesters.

 

[Mayhem]

Peaceful protest is never an overreaction. Regardless of cause or belief.

 

[Torre82]

Peaceful protest is never an overreaction. Regardless of cause or belief.

Agreed. If people are offended, by all means complain. Peple complain, people judge, people run government. Let the people govern. That's how it was set up.

 

[Trident1]

Good call by the authorities.

 

[D-rock]

When I first heard this my first thought before reading anything else was, "They must have phoned over to Egypt and got advice from Mubarak." Then I see how many other people thought along those same lines. It kind of says something about the people that run San Francisco.