By James A. Lyons
By arming the rebels, we're aiding al Qaeda
. In this type of civic center, special attention is paid to the way public structures are grouped and landscaped. - Source: Wikipedia
For decades, the big, black mass of chain link that's piled up outside the Civic Center has alternately awed and inspired, annoyed and confounded, and, perhaps most often, simply divided residents of this otherwise famously liberal beach town.
The San Francisco transit commute went smoothly for the first Monday in two weeks as demonstrators _ acknowledging that disruptive protests of the two previous Monday nights have angered commuters _ stayed away from train platforms, where protests have been barred for safety reasons.
The San Francisco transit commute went smoothly for the first Monday in two weeks as demonstrators - acknowledging that disruptive protests of the two previous Monday nights have angered commuters - stayed away from train platforms, where protests have been barred for safety reasons.
Transit police arrested four protesters and briefly closed two subway stations during the evening commute Monday during a small demonstration over the Bay Area Rapid Transit's tactic of cutting wireless communication to quell a previously planned protest.
Police have arrested at least eight protesters and closed two downtown San Francisco subway stations during the evening commute.
Civil libertarian groups have backed away from threats to legally challenge the Bay Area Rapid Transit system's wireless service shutdown last week after the agency refused a repeat amid rush-hour protests that shuttered four San Francisco stations.
The idea to cut wireless communications to quell a brewing protest _ a tactic that has put San Francisco's subway system in the middle of a global free speech debate _ first came to the agency's chief spokesman in the middle of the night.
The head of the Bay Area Rapid Transit agency is defending the system's move to cut wireless service to thwart a planned protest last week. But he says the tactic likely won't be used again.
Rush-hour protests prompted the closure of four San Francisco subway stations and sent hundreds of commuters into the sidewalks and streets Monday, but there was no repeat of the wireless service shutdowns that angered protesters last week.
