Photo Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Protests have ensued after public outrage, sparked by a black man eating a sandwich while waiting for the train.
Over the weekend a video went viral after a man was arrested at the Pleasant Hill BART station in San Francisco, for literally eating a sandwich. SFist reported, that Bill Gluckman was detained after an officer approached him and told him her was breaking the law for eating his breakfast sandwich on the platform. “You’re eating. It’s against the law,” officer D. McCormick can be heard saying in the video. He then says, “you’re going to jail.”
He got detained and arrest for eating a sandwich at Pleasant Hill Bart Station . @KTVU. Bart ought to be ashamed of themselves and I hope he sue tf outta them pic.twitter.com/u1CQYKZdT9
— THE REAL MEANASS 🔑 11/13 🤪🎉 (@keilobenjamin) November 9, 2019
Gluckman was not actually taken to jail, but handcuffed, removed from the platform and given a citation. Alicia Trost, a BART spokesperson responded to the backlash saying, “No matter how you feel about eating on BART, the officer saw someone eating and asked him to stop, when he didn’t, he was given a citation. The individual was not cooperative and was not providing his identification which is needed for a citation and is why the engagement lasted as long as it did.”
Regardless of whether he was actually taken into custody, the public was infuriated. Many said although it is illegal to eat on the train and the platform, that food is sold outside the station and that white people “do it all the time,” suggesting the arrest may have been racially motivated. Trost also said, an independent police auditor is reviewing the case.
Peep pictures and videos from yesterday’s protest below:
FOLLOW UP: On Saturday, around 30 people gathered to EAT & PROTEST Steve Foster being detained at the BART station
Kelly Groth passed out sandwiches & called it #BrunchOnBART. BART Board of Directors Janice Li was brought her own lunch & thinks it’s unfair.
No one was arrested! pic.twitter.com/QeLmEw3bRv
— Jerome Trammel (@MrJeromeTrammel) November 10, 2019
#BART riders angered by a viral video showing a man being handcuffed and cited by police for eating a sandwich as he waited for a train, staged an “eat-in” protest at Embarcadero Station on Saturday.#EatingAtBART pic.twitter.com/FJlU1BGOhH
— The Crisis Magazine (@thecrisismag) November 11, 2019
BART riders hold lunchtime 'eat-in' protest after man detained for eating sandwich on train platform: https://t.co/wflrS2nVpb pic.twitter.com/1JM1az2qu2
— KTBB Radio (@KTBBRadio) November 11, 2019
Just a little branching on BART to protest BART police pic.twitter.com/xFNNiSOvvO
— Jon Winter Wong-erland🎄 (@thewongmann) November 9, 2019
great turnout here today! #EatingAtBART pic.twitter.com/yxfgnDNrhA
— chris arvin 💕 🌁 (@chrisarvinsf) November 9, 2019
Eating out here at Embarcadero station to protest the recent policing incident at BART. pic.twitter.com/9PU6xhPoe1
— kueller 🥑 (@_kueller) November 9, 2019
