Rally Today for BART Shooting Victim Will Delay Transit

​Activists are planning to slow BART service at the Civic Center Station this evening in response to the fatal July 3 BART police shooting. The protest, organized by a group called No Justice, No Bart, is scheduled to take place from 4:30 to 7 p.m and could draw as many as 300 people.

No Justice, No BART, which was formed in response to the shooting of Oscar Grant in 2009, has made the following announcement on its event page:

Join us to THIS MONDAY ON THE CIVIC CENTER PLATFORM (yes, in the BART!). We will participate in a collective act of civil disobedience to demand:

1. The BART Board of Directors must shut down the corrupt, inept, disgraceful, and murderous BART police department, PERMANENTLY AND TOTALLY.

2. Both officers must be fired, and we demand an independent, PUBLIC investigation of this killing, and all applicable charges filed and prosecuted against the killers.

Officers shot and killed Charles Hill at the Civic Center station after getting reports of a drunk man stumbling around the platform. When officers arrived, they claimed he was "an aggressive suspect" brandishing a knife and broken bottle, but witnesses have said Hill was just a "drunk hippie."

The protesters also accuse BART police of "refusing to release" videos of the incident. Deputy Chief Daniel Hartwig told SF Weekly that the videos will be released, but only after SFPD completes its investigation.

"There are still numerous witnesses yet to be interviewed," he explains. "We cannot allow the investigation to be compromised." The two officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave.

As for the anticipated BART disruption later today? "We have plans in place to be prepared for anything that may attempt to disrupt the safety and security of the BART," Hartwig says. 

Follow us on Twitter at @TheSnitchSF and @SFWeekly