BART transit system shuts off wireless connections

[Shangri-laschild]

While I understand and even agree with your position on this matter, sometimes the only way to get the public to even notice that there's a problem is to bring the system to a grinding halt.

I don't know enough about BART to say how I feel about if they had something that needed to be protested or not, so I'm only addressing the manner of protest in general.

Allison said the wireless outage was only for platforms and trains running under the city, places where protests are banned.

The protest was not a legal one. I have a hard time believing that bystanders would not have been caught in the cross fire in this thing if it had happened. I'm not saying that the protesters had malicious intent but an illegal protest in a space like that has a high likelihood of going bad. Between that and the hacking, it seems like the people behind this cause are doing things that are mostly hurting bystanders and people not involved than the people they are angry with.


Also, if a park was shut down by the city temporarily because people kept getting shot in it or repeated gang wars? I'm curious as to if that much would be legal seeing as how then it would be for safety reasons instead of not wanting something to be said. Anyone know?

[protege]

Disrupting people's daily routine is the absolute worst possible thing you could do for your cause. I have never understood why anyone thinks it will help them. The moment you inconvience the general public is the moment they turn on you like rabid wolves. You will not get a shred of fucking sympathy. Period. Especially if you're disrupting a core system like transit.

That's similar to what the anti-war protestors did here during the Iraq war. Those idiots decided that the best way to protest...was to block a couple of the main streets during rush hour. Then they couldn't understand why some motorists were not only throwing things at them...but some took it further. A couple of the hippies were beaten. Gee, preventing people from getting to/from work, home, the hospital, or other important place. Can't understand why...

You want to protest? Fine. Get a permit like everyone else, and do it legally. The rest of us have *very* little tolerance in having our jobs/lives disrupted because you've got a chip on your shoulder. Block our roads and inconvenience the rest of us...is the negative attention (not to mention the bruises and/or arrest) really worth it?

[Gravekeeper]

While I understand and even agree with your position on this matter, sometimes the only way to get the public to even notice that there's a problem is to bring the system to a grinding halt.

But then you're being noticed for completely the wrong reason. People aren't noticing your cause, they're noticing that you're disrupting their life. During the transit strike here years ago, I didn't give a rat's ass what their issues were, it was taking me two hours to get to work and I had to catch a ride with a creepy coworker in his scary kidnapper van. -.-

Them protesting and disrupting the system did not make me want to find out about their cause. Likewise, when you disrupt a system and then try to point the finger at something else and go "Well we wouldn't have to do this if those guys did x or y" people still blame you. They don't care about Those Guys(tm).

I have zero sympathy for protestors in general these days specifically because of this kind of bullshit. Then the song and dance "police brutality" bullshit that follows as they are yet again amazed the cops show up when they do something illegal. >.>

[Hyena Dandy]

Gee, preventing people from getting to/from work, home, the hospital, or other important place. Can't understand why...

It is an incredibly bad idea, but that doesn't mean beating people is a good response.

[protege]

It is an incredibly bad idea, but that doesn't mean beating people is a good response.

I never said it was. However, if I'm trying to take an injured relative to the hospital, and some idiot protester is blocking the road to get there...I can see why some people would get upset. With that said, I can understand why some drivers felt the need to beat the shit out of the protestors.

You have a problem with something, you protest against the appropriate entities. Problem with the war? March on Capitol Hill. Problem with "big business taking over?" Don't throw bricks through the windows of the mom-and-pop cafes just trying to make a living.

As for the "police brutality" complaints, quite a few protestors made that claim during the G20 convention awhile back. These assholes were taunting police, throwing garbage cans at them (and innocent people) in various areas, were told to GTFO...and then called the ACLU when they were forcibly removed. Sorry, but fuck that shit. Don't want to get tazed, pepper-sprayed, or have the sirens in your face? Don't act like an asshole then.

Quite a few people had their lives disrupted because of the G20 assholes. Our entire downtown area was sealed off. There was no way in, or out of there. Think of all the people who couldn't work--the delivery people, the bus drivers (many of the routes serving downtown were cut back), the waiters in the restaurants, store employees--because their job doesn't offer the luxury of being able to work from home.