* "#OPBART" complete coverage on Indybay.org newswire [https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/08/13/18687583.php].
Context:
"Free Fly Benzo"
2011-07-24 by * [http://occupyca.wordpress.com/2011/07/24/free-fly-benzo/]:
SAN FRANCISCO, California — In the wake of the 2 recent police shootings — one by the BART police, killing Charles Hill, who was intoxicated and shot moments after police arrived, and the second by the SFPD killing Kenneth Harding, for what many witnesses corroborate as Harding evading a public transit fare — a flurry of protests and actions have erupted resulting in dozens of arrests. Among these, one community member and organizer, Fly Benzo, was arrested at his home by the police a few days ago. He is being held right now on $43,000 bail, and has been charged with some misdemeanors and felonies. His arraignment is being held today, most likely during the afternoon. Supporters should stay updated here [https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=235611039806114], and turn out to pack the courtroom today!
"No Justice No Peace - BART police protest - July 11. 2011"
by George Franklin [https://www.facebook.com/george.franklin.7374/media_set?set=a.2055060730979.2117157.1078404473]:
Monday 7/11 protest of BART Police murders of Oscar grant and Charles Hill.
When I got to BART after work Monday, i heard the trains were being held up due to "civil unrest" at Civic Center station. Naturally, I headed for Civic Center.
When I arrived, I found a small protest march heading back toward toward downtown. Motorcycle and riot cops outnumbered the 50 or so marchers, and kept trying to corral us. But the protesters mingled with rush hour traffic and evaded arrest.
After running from yet another police cordon, the marchers headed to Powell Street BART, where we mixed with the lines of tourists waiting for the cable cars. A hundred riot cops surrounded the cable car area, but there was no way to sort out protesters and tourists, so finally they settled in and guarded the BART station. I left about 7:30pm as the protest seemed to be winding down.
Marchers head from Civic Center toward downtown.
Protesters occupied the inbound lanes of Market Street.
Marchers protested the BART Police shootings of Charles Hill and Oscar Grant.
No Justice, No Peace!
Off the sidewalks and into the streets!
Cops finally surrounded the marchers near Powell Street BART...
Protesters face off with police near Powell Street BART.
Protesters and tourists mingle - out come a hundred cameras!
Cable car riders get a special San Francisco treat - a real protest!
Dozens of riot cops tried to surround the protesters, but with tourists refusing to give up their places in the cable car lines, there was no way to separate the two crowds.
Leafletting outside Powell Street BART.
Tourists and protesters mingle near Powell Street BART.
"Operation BART: Part of a series on Anonymous"[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/operation-bart]:
(External links are numbered and placed after article.)
Overview -
Operation BART (#OpBART) is an Anonymous hacktivist campaign that was launched against San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) websites following its disruption of cellphone services in select subway stations in August 2011. According to the group’s press release, the BART authorities disabled cellphone signals on its stations on August 11th, 2011 after receiving reports about a planned protest over fatal shootings of passengers by transit security officers.
Background -
On July 3rd, 2011, a 45-year-old homeless man Charles Hill was fatally shot by two BART officers at San Francisco’s Civic Center station. According to official statements, Hill was intoxicated and confronted the officers with knives when they arrived on the scene, leading them to fire 3 rounds at the man in close proximity.
Already struggling to maintain amicable relations with the community after the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant III in 2009, BART officers’ shooting of Charles Hill led to a massive demonstration and riot inside and around Civic Center station on July 11th. One month later on August 11th, BART requested mobile service providers to block coverage in its stations to prevent another protest scheduled that evening.
Notable Developments -
On August 11th, almost immediately following the service disruption, angry citizens began posting complaints with the hashtag #muBARTec, a reference to the telecom shutdown imposed by the former Egyptian president Hosani Mubarak back in January 2011.
Anonymous-affiliated Twitter accounts posted a series of tweets hashtagged #OpBART[1] which amounted to an open IRC discussion on August 12th. Prior to the service outage, @YourAnonNews tweeted several messages calling on its supporters to join the protest.
Debate over Cellphone Outage -
BART’s network outage on August 11th not only provoked complaints from the commuters, but it also drew scrutiny from the news media as well as civil liberties and free-speech advocacy groups like and Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF)[6] and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)[7], who renounced the Bay Area transit authority as “the first known government agency in the United States to block cell service in order to disrupt a political protest.”
When asked by CNN[8], a transit official tried to justify the agency’s decision by saying: “We made a gut-wrenching decision that was forced upon us by the protesters,” he explained. “They [the activists] made us choose between people’s ability to use their mobile phones (and) their constitutional right to get from point A to point B.”
ACLU responded to the news by posting an action alert regarding the phone access closure in San Francisco, criticizing the outage as “anti-democratic and a violation of the right to free speech and assembly.”
EFF also put forth its skepticism towards BART’s action in a statement titled “BART Pulls a Mubarak in San Francisco,” which raised the question of whether BART officials directly cut off access to mobile phone nodes or requested individual carriers to disable their services.
“One thing is clear, whether it’s BART or the cell phone carriers that were responsible for the shut-off, cutting off cell phone service in response to a planned protest is a shameful attack on free speech.”
Following the Civic Center demonstration on August 14th, technology news blog Ars Technica[9] also chimed in on the debate with an article titled “Scenes from an Anonymous protest: Did San Francisco’s subway pull a Mubarak?” which provided a round-up summary of the ongoing public debate and Monday’s protest.
Launch of Operation BART -
However, due to the distributed hosting used by BART, the DDoS part of the operation failed. “You can’t DDoS a Cloud Hosted Network,” one participant in the operation explained.
According to the group’s announcements leading up to Sunday, Operation BART consisted of several tactics like spamming BART inbox system and fax machines with e-mail bombs containing the group’s condemning message, overwhelming the server host through DDoS attacks and organizing an IRL protest at the Civic Center station in downtown San Francisco. The plan was announced through their affiliated Twitter channels as well as a video uploaded onto YouTube[3]:
"To the people of San Francisco,
We invite you to join us Monday, August 15th, at 5pm, for a peaceful protest at Civic Center Station. We will show the world and BART that we will not stand for these types of actions. We encourage you to wear a red shirt, in remembrance of those who have been battered by the BART police. We also encourage you to bring cameras to record any further abuse by police, and to legitimize the protest. Remember to bring your mask, and remember that this is a peaceful protest. Anonymous does not support violent action and it is discouraged."
On August 14th, Anonymous released personal data of at least 2,400 BART customers including their names, e-mails, passwords, phone numbers and addresses, calling it a direct response against BART’s decision to block cellphone signals in the subway in a Pastebin[4] press release. In a statement released on Sunday, BART verified that 2,400 of its 55,000 users were affected by the attacks and no financial information was stored in the database[5].
However, Anonymous failed to deliver their signature DDoS attacks as BART websites used a distributed hosting method known as cloud-hosting, which serves as a defense against DDoS attempts. The group instead managed to vandalize the BART’s promotional microsite myBART.com[2] by adding their signature Guy Fawkes masks and pirate flags on the homepage.
Protest at Civic Center -
Around 5 pm on August 15th, a group of nearly 60 demonstrators and TV news reporters gathered at Civic Center station for a peaceful protest. Some protesters in the crowd ore red-spotted t-shirts or covered their faces with blood red bandanas to identify themselves as members of the Anonymous, who were encouraged to wear red shirt in remembrance of the recent police brutality victims in San Francisco.
Despite concerns and rumors of yet another cellphone blockade, Monday’s protest turned out to be a peaceful proceeding and San Francisco subway’s wireless network remained operational.
Shortly after the demonstration on August 15th, Federal Communications Commission spokesman Neil Grace revealed that “the matter was under investigation” of federal communication regulators.
BART Hacked Again -
On August 17th, hackers breached San Francisco’s BART systems again, this time targeting the website of the BART Police Officers’ Association and releasing a roster of 102 police officers and other agency employees with their home addresses, e-mails and passwords for the site. The roster was published on a separate website, where the hackers wrote, “Yet another success.”
The identity of the perpetrators still remain unclear, as Anonymous-affiliated outlets are taking a cautious approach in addressing the latest attack. According to San Francisco Gate[10], Wednesday’s follow-up hack may have created an internal conflict within the mysterious hacking collective, as some Anonymous participants supposedly have voiced their disagreement regarding the event.
A hacker known as "Lamaline_5mg,” who claims to be a self-taught, female French computer programmer, has been attributed as the perpetrator in the news media. Meanwhile, BART Police Officers’ Association also released a statement vowing to hunt down the hackers in cooperation with FBI:
“These people are criminals, and we’re going to forward this information to the FBI,” presdient Jesse Sekhon told the paper. “These people need to be brought to justice. They can’t be terrorizing people.”
On August 20th, BART released an open letter explaining their reason behind shutting down the mobile network on August 11th. According to the statement, BART Police received tips about plans for color-coded teams to carry out acts of civil disobedience on numerous station platforms, with the red team on the frontline representing a “high possibility of arrest.” One of the stunts planned for the August 11th demonstration sought to chain a group of protesters to the actual trains to delay the service.
August 22nd: OpBART-2 Protest Planned -
Meanwhile, Anonymous and other BART protesters are planning yet another public demonstration during the rush hour commute on Monday, August 22nd, 2011. Over the weekend, several Anonymous-affiliated Twitter accounts and blogs encouraged their followers to join the protest at the Civic Center station. Hashtags like #OpBART and #MuBARTek have been on the rebound as well, though #OpBART is barred from trending due to its name conflict with the its eponymous Twitter handle @OpBART.
In response, the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) issued a warning to its passengers of possible service disruptions on Monday afternoon, citing the second protest planned b hacker group Anonymous. “BART may need to close some stations temporarily or make other service adjustments on short notice,” according to the notice posted on BART’s website.
External References
[1] Twitter – Search Results for #OpBART [https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23OpBART]
[2] myBART – myBART Homepage [http://mybart.org/]
[3] YouTube – Anonyous: Operation BART [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o10k3M0-L9E]
[4] Pastebin – Press Release – Anonymous Operation BART [http://pastebin.com/dQDzqAHM]
[5] BART – Customer information about a mybart.org data breach [http://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2011/news20110814a.aspx]
[6] ACLU North California – Cell Phone Censorship in San Francisco? [http://www.aclunc.org/issues/technology/blog/cell_phone_censorship_in_san_francisco.shtml]
[7] EFF – BART Pulls a Mubarak in San Francisco [http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/08/bart-pulls-mubarak-san-francisco]
[8] CNN – BART reopens stations after protest threat fades [http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/08/15/california.bart.protest/index.html]
[9] Ars Technica – Did BART Pull a Mubarak in San Francisco? [http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/08/did-bart-pull-a-mubarak-in-san-francisco.ars]
[10] San Francisco Gate – Hackers post BART cops’ personal information [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/17/MN101KOI7G.DTL]
#OpBart
(graphics from among exiledsurfer's Politricks [esp.artificialeyes.tv/anonymous], 2011-08-12)
#OpBart: Anon Noon
(graphic from among exiledsurfer's Politricks [esp.artificialeyes.tv/anonymous])
Anonymous claims they will shutdown bart.gov for six hours Sunday August 14 at High Noon Pacific Time.
[http://youranonnews.org/post/8894155866/this-is-just-a-brief-release-to-clarify-for-the]:
This is just a brief release to clarify for the media what to expect from Anonymous on this Op. There is a more thorough Press Release from us here - http://tumblr.com/xjh42d529q
Anonymous will take the following actions over the next 48 hours.
1) We have begun at once a massive Black Fax and E-Mail Bomb action, where we will fill every inbox and fax machine at BART with thousands of copies of our message that this outage was unacceptable.
2) Tomorrow, Sunday - August 14, 2011 at High Noon Pacific Time we, Anonymous - will remove from the internet the web site of BART located at www.bart.gov for exactly six hours. That’s twice as long as they shut off the cell phones for.
3) On Monday - August 15, 2011 at 5:00 PM Pacific Time there will be a physical protest at the Civic Center Bart Station. Expect us !
We sincerely hope that this series of actions will serve as a warning to BART and every public organization in the USA to NOT engage in this sort of dangerous and human rights violating behavior.
We Are Anonymous - We Are Everywhere - We Are Legion - We Never Forget - We Never Forgive - EXPECT US
The Summer of #Anonymous
(graphic from among exiledsurfer's Politricks [esp.artificialeyes.tv/anonymous])
Toto, I Don't Think We're In Tahrir Anymore
#OpBart All UR History Is Belong 2 Rosa Parks
“This is a message from Anonymous to the Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART)[http://youranonnews.tumblr.com/post/8850132926/this-is-a-message-from-anonymous-to-the-bay-area-rapid]:
TO THE PEOPLE OF THE USA:
The past year has brought about some substantial awareness through some unfortunate events that have occurred throughout our world. From internet censorship to the unnecessary violence inflicted upon unarmed civilans, we’ve all seen what can happen once a portion of us are gagged.
In Egypt and Tunisia, we saw people struggling to make their voices heard. We have seen companies such as Telecomix delve into the nastiness of political corruption in an attempt to free those censored individuals from their prisons of silence. We seen social media such as FaceBook and twitter explode with users from around the world speaking out against censorship.
Today, we’ve seen America come alive. In the Bay Area, we’ve seen people gagged, and once more, Anonymous will attempt to show those engaging in the censorship what it feels like to be silenced. #OpBART is an operation geared toward balance – toward learning. You do not censor people because they wish to speak out against the wrongs the wrongful things occurring around them. The Bay Area Rapid Transit has made the conscious decision of ordering various cell phone companies to terminate services for the downtown area inhibiting those in the area from using cell phones – even in the case of an emergency.
To BART:
We will not tolerate censorship.
We will do everything in our power (we are legion) to parallel the actions of censorship that you have chosen to engage in.
We will be free to speak out against you when you try to cover up crimes, namely on behalf of those who have engaged in violence against a mostly unarmed public.
We will set those who have been censored free from their silence. That’s a promise.
Anonymous demands that this activity revolving around censorship cease and desist and we know you are already planning to do this again.
We will not issue any more warnings.
TO THE PEOPLE OF SAN FRANCISCO:
People of San Francisco, join us Monday, August 15th at 5pm for a peaceful protest at Civic Center station to illustrate the solidarity with people we once knew and to stand up for your rights and those of your fellow citizens.
We will be wearing “blood” stained shirts for remembrance to the blood that is on the hands of the BART police.
For the people outside of San Francisco, show solidarity by using black fax, email bombs, and phone calls to the BART Board of Directors. BART decided to cut off your communications and now we will flood theirs.
We request that you bring cameras to record further abuses of power by the police and to legitimize the protest. The media will certainly spin this in an attempt to make our actions appear to be violent or somehow harmful to the citizenry at large. Remember, this is a peaceful protest. Any actions trying to incite violence in our protest are not of our people, and they ought to be discouraged.
We are Anonymous,
We are legion,
We never forgive,
We never forget,
Expect us.
BART contact info:
Phone:
510 465-2278, 415 989-2278, 650 992-2278, 925 676-2278, 510 441-2278, 510 236-2278, and 510 465-2278
Fax: (510) 464-6011
Email: BoardofDirectors@bart.gov
Fliers / Back Fax images
Blacked out: http://a.yfrog.com/img616/5783/2j1oi.jpg
“Bart”: http://www.artificialeyes.tv/files/opBART_exiledsurfer.jpg
Back Fax tools
http://youranonnews.tumblr.com/post/8832483770/email-and-fax-bomb-info-for-opbart”
"Anonymous targets BART"
2011-08-15 by * [http://occupyca.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/anonymous-targets-bart/]:
SAN FRANCISCO, California – Last week on Thursday, BART shut down cell phone access at their stations in San Francisco to deter social networking during a protest they expected to happen in response to the recent police killing of Charles Hill. The protest never materialized, never-the-less cellphone access was turned off. In response, folks from anonymous declared a campaign against the BART, #opBART, over the breach in civil liberties reminiscent of the Egyptian state’s termination of internet access during the uprisings in January. Since then, anonymous has hacked the myBART website, releasing this message and list of user accounts.
They also called for a demonstration for today, Monday, August 15th. The demo combined a criticism of the BART police and its recent police killings, alongside the cellphone shutdown. The demonstrators successfully shuttered four BART stations along Market st. for several hours and kept up chants of, “no justice, no peace. Disband the BART police!”, and “Cops! Pigs! Murderers!” Some also donned anonymous’ trademark ‘Guy Fawkes’ masks and chanted, “we do not forgive. We do not forget.”
See more on Indybay [https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/08/13/18687583.php].
Read the flyer here [https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/08/15/18687751.php].
BART HATES FREE SPEECH
BART WANTS TO
SILENCE DISSENT
AND HIDE THE TRUTH
ABOUT THEIR MURDEROUS AND UNACCOUNTABLE POLICE FORCE
It was BART PR shill Linton Johnson’s idea to shut off phone service in BART stations on August 11th 2011, denying tens of thousands of BART riders access to phones and 911 for hours. Here’s what he’s said since:
“Now they’re bitching and complaining that we turned (mobile phone antennas) off for three hours?” - The Bay Citizen
"Inside the fare gates is a non-public forum and by law, by the Constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court, there is no right to free speech there." - KRON4
TELL BART TO FIRE LYING LINTON JOHNSON
http://bart.gov/siteinfo/contact.aspx
#OpBART - #muBARTek
nojusticenobart.blogspot.com - http://www.indybay.org/oscargrant
http://nojusticenobart.blogspot.com
"Anonymous Ops Britian and BART"
2011-08-15 from "DataProtectionCenter.com – Tech and Security" [http://www.dataprotectioncenter.com/antivirus/f-secure/anonymous-ops-britian-and-bart/]:
Here’s a new maxim for politicians, policy makers and public administrators: curtail, censor or otherwise limit communications technology in the real-world – expect online reprisals.
Hacker collective Anonymous released a “press release” on Saturday announcing OpBritian, a reaction to UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s suggestions that social media should be restricted in a time of crisis.
#OpBritian
And while Anonymous states that actions by rioters were “violent”, they have no love for police authority, and so the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Besides promising online hacks, Anonymous has called for rebellion peaceful real-world protests on October 15th.
Meanwhile in the USA, San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) authorities interrupted phone services at some BART stations on August 11th in a move to prevent protesters from disrupting travelers and creating in their words, “unsafe conditions”.
Not surprisingly, or it shouldn’t be, Anonymous announced OpBART, complete with its own modified Bartman logo.
And a hack of myBART.org, currently offline, followed in which names, e-mails, and passwords of myBART members where dumped to pastebin.com. OpBART also calls for a real-world peaceful protest at Civic Center station at 17:00 PST (approximately nine hours from now).
Of all places, San Francisco may well be the heartland of the Anonymous collective, so it should be interesting to see just how many people attend the gathering, and how it is reported by the USA and UK press.
If today’s OpBART protest turns violent. expect the negative feedback loop to continue.
"Anonymous OpBART Protest Shuts Down Four SF BART Stations & More, 8/15/11"
2011-08-16 by dave id [https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/08/16/18687876.php] [https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/08/16/18687893.php] [https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/08/16/18687925.php]:
In "remembrance [of] the blood that is on the hands of the BART police" for killing Charles Hill, Oscar Grant, and others -- and to "stand up for your rights and those of your fellow citizens" after BART cut mobile phone service in underground stations on August 11th in an attempt to disrupt a rumored protest -- Anonymous promised retaliation through an "Operation BART" campaign. Anonymous threatened to "remove" BART's website, called for flooding BART's communications systems with faxes, emails and calls, and scheduled a peaceful protest at Civic Center station. On August 14th, the myBART.org website was hacked. On August 15th, a protest was held in San Francisco that shut down four downtown BART stations during the evening commute by simply walking from one station to the next. MUNI service was disrupted as well in the stations that BART chose to close rather than face protesters. Street-level buses and traffic were also effected during the march from Civic Center to Embarcadero.
---
Video description: On August 15th, a protest was called by Anonymous in San Francisco that shut down four downtown BART stations during the evening commute by simply walking from one station to the next. MUNI service was disrupted as well in the stations that BART chose to close rather than face protesters. Street-level buses and traffic were also effected during the march from Civic Center to Embarcadero.
This photo series is of activities on the streets. For photos from protest inside Civic Center station before it was closed at about 5:30pm, see [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/08/15/18687793.php] and [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/08/16/18687809.php].
At least a dozen corporate news vans await the show
Dept of Homeland Security - Federal Protective Service police - your tax dollars at work
Closing of BART stations was Anonymous' first physical denial-of-service (DoS) attack
Live video streaming of BART action
offline now: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/opbart
Disb@nd BART Cops banner goes up
Everyone has something to take a picture of now
Civic Center station closed after protesters inside held train doors open for a few minutes
Marching eastward on Market Street
Powell Street BART station entrance closed before demonstrators arrived
Protesters head for Powell entrance on the other side of Market
Powell Street station closed on all sides
Commuters trapped in Powell Station
Handing out hundreds & hundreds of fliers along the way on crowded Market Street sidewalks
Holding intersection of Kearney/3rd and Market
Melyssa Jo Kelly, witness to the BART police killing of Charles Hill inside Civic Center station on July 3rd, joins the march on Market Street. Video interview with her at [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/08/16/18687914.php].
BART police and workers scramble to close the gate at a Montgomery station entrance
Montgomery Street station closed - the physical DoS attack continues...
We are all Oscar Grant
Demonstrators hold the intersection of Bush/1st and Market
Anonymous
Blue door to the left at Embarcadero station closing on first site of protesters
Re-emerging on The Embarcadero after a march through the Ferry Building. Marching through the Ferry Building must have freaked out SFPD as suddenly 20 or more officers appeared on the scene
BART tried to open and close entrances, and this one was found open by protesters
Protesters were able to hold the gate open before a sole BART PD officer guarding the entrance could close it
Bum-rushing Embarcadero BART station through the open gate, journalists and protesters
This BART officer stood at the unclosed gate by himself for 4 or 5 minutes. He swung and poked his nightstick through the gate opening, futilely attempting to discourage protesters from entering the station. Perhaps 10-15 made it through, and then rode trains to other stations.
Trying to hand fliers to SFPD, who stood idly by at the top of the stairs during struggle with Embarcadero entrance gate
Eventually a small squad of BART police in riot gear appeared at Embarcadero entrance
BART riot police move up to top of stairs at Embarcadero station entrance
Defending BART from free speech. "Inside the fare gates is a non-public forum and by law, by the Constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court, there is no right to free speech there."
- BART PR spokesperson Linton Johnson
SFPD show of vehicular force
SFPD gives order to clear intersection of Drumm/Main and Market streets
BART commander Dan Hartwig (center) chums it up with CSU police to left & SFPD to right
We are Anonymous. We are legion, We never forgive, We never forget, Expect us.
#OpBart-2
(graphic from among exiledsurfer's Politricks [esp.artificialeyes.tv/anonymous])
#OpBart: Felling Angry? #Lamaline5mg, For The #Lulz
(graphic from among exiledsurfer's Politricks [esp.artificialeyes.tv/anonymous])
So Apparently, The BART Police Union Website was hacked today by a 16 year old French girl, going by the nickname "Lamaline".
"BART Police Website Hacker Claims to Be French Girl Doing First Hack"
2011-08-17 by Lauren Smiley [http://www.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2011/08/17/bart-police-website-hacker-claims-to-be-french-girl-doing-first-hack]:
Vive la lulz.
The purported hacker who infiltrated the BART's Police Officers Association website today claims to be a French girl ("Humiliating, huh?") who executed her first hack, SF Weekly has learned [http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2011/08/anonymous_hacks_bart_police_we.php]. SF Weekly chatted online with someone who claimed to be the mind behind today's attack. She provided us with the security hole she used, saying the whole thing was incredibly simple.
Lamaline_5mg -- her online handle -- doesn't claim to be part of Anonymous, the Internet-based movement that masterminded Monday's BART protest. She even took issue with referring to the attack as a hack: "They had zero security," she wrote. "Listen, don't ask questions. I'll tell you what's important to know first."
Did we mention she's also a little bit bossy?
Lamaline wrote that she figured out how to get into BART's website by a one-page PDF tutorial and googling "site:bartpoa.com inurl:.asp?". She said she "exploited a gaping hole" in the site's security to find all the BART officers' names, e-mails, and addresses. Here's the list of information, and here was her creation, though the URL no longer works:
http://bartpoa.com/forms/contact_form.asp?i=0%27%20UNION%20ALL%20SELECT%201,2,3,4,5,%28%27%3C%28%20%27%2buserId%29,%28firstname%2b%27%20%27%2blastname%29,%28address%2b%27%20city:%27%2bcity%29,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,%28email%2b%27%20--Password:%20%27%2buserpwd%2b%27%20%29%3E%27%29,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30%20FROM%20%2
"The way she explained sounds pretty plausible, and that's pretty trivial," says Pete Fein, an Anonymous member who facilitated the online discussion, though he reiterates he had nothing to do with the hack. "If you can write a little code and she found that technique in a PDF, that's really straightforward."
Lamaline first told us her motivation came from outrage at BART turning off cellphone reception at downtown stations: "People trying to stand for themselves in peaceful protest ends up being such a big deal that the police has to shut down cellphone and WiFi access.This is exactly like the beginning of the tahrir protests."
But then she changed her tune, claiming she did it just for the "lulz," or for the kicks, in Internet parlance. "I got pissed. I learned some stuff. They didn't have protections. I won."
All right, then.
You can see a full transcript of our chat on the next page.
[begin transcript]
[13:42] For starters, this is my first attack on any system.
[13:43] I see. So what called you to action today?
[13:44] What called me to action? Look around you. People trying to stand for themselves in peaceful protest ends up being such a big deal that the police has to shut down cell phone and wifi access.
[13:45] This is exactly like the beginning of the tahrir protests.
[13:46] But let me tell you to important things: I learned how to Inject databases *ONLY* because I wanted to get these passwords and infos.
[13:46] I see. You see this as a better attack that the MyBART one?
[13:46] makes more of a statement?
[13:47] Most important thing is, it was not a hack: They had 0 security.
[13:47] I just exploited a gaping hole.
[13:47] what?
[13:47] A better attack?
[13:48] Listen, don't ask questions.
[13:48] I'll tell you what's important to know first.
[13:48] Ok, go for it.
[13:50] I did it for the lulz.
[13:51] This is a key phrase that any pirate says to the media when it is obvious that they do not care about the movement.
[13:51] Really, this is no big deal.
[13:51] Yet another leak.
[13:51] Yet another cyber attack.
[13:52] You want to sell a dream of cyber attacks like in the movies.
[13:52] Do it without me.
[13:52] Now, let's get to facts about me.
[13:52] I am not american.
[13:52] I am a girl.
[13:53] How was it so easy to get into the site?
[13:53] Care to disclose your nationality?
[13:53] two python scripts of ~50 lines.
[13:54] yeah, sure. How about you give me your adress so I can send you a DNA sample?
[13:55] Was it sql injection on the login fields?
[13:55] <@n0pants> lol
[13:56] No. Here's the security hole: http://bartpoa.com/forms/contact_form.asp?i=0%27%20UNION%20ALL%20SELECT%201,2,3,4,5,%28%27%3C%28%20%27%2buserId%29,%28firstname%2b%27%20%27%2blastname%29,%28address%2b%27%20city:%27%2bcity%29,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,%28email%2b%27%20--Password:%20%27%2buserpwd%2b%27%20%29%3E%27%29,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30%20FROM%20%2
[13:56] Don't click unlesss you want the feds in your house tomorrow morning.
[13:56] <@n0pants> how did you figure out that query?
[13:57] <@n0pants> just guess the column names?
[13:57] Yes.
[13:57] it took a list of common tables and columns, and a loop.
[13:58] Then, my nice terminal would kindly tell me, quote: "SUCCESS ON userpwd field name."
[13:59] Is the BART POA website still vulnerable right now?
[13:59] Yeah.
[13:59] You have no Idea.
[14:00] Are you planning to grab more from the site?
[14:00] <@n0pants> as a programmer, I'll agree, that's a pretty straightforward attack
[14:00] Somebody more experienced could have gotten the admin password. That would have been way more lulzy.
[14:00] Are you doing this for the lulz or because you think BART overstepped its bounds? You've said both.
[14:01] This is a cyber guerilla is what it is.
[14:02] I got pissed.
[14:02] I learned som stuff.
[14:02] They didn't have protections.
[14:02] I won.
[14:02] As simple as that.
[14:02] You are very dramatic, Lamaline!
[14:02] then again, I had some lulz.
[14:03] How long did it take you to figure out how to get in?
[14:05] A one page PDF tutorial, and this google search: «site:bartpoa.com inurl:.asp?»
[14:05] It took me no time, really.
[14:06] I learned a lot from this attack, though.
[14:06] And I learned a lot about dumping infos.
[14:06] Morality: Use the infos First.
[14:06] then dump.
[14:07] Are you planning to get into get into any other systems?
[14:08] I don't know. I am an opportunist in this matter. But I will never attack unless something is wrong with the actions of the victim.
[14:09] Victim is not the right word: Opponent.
[14:10] You aren't American, but are you in the United States?
[14:10] No.
[14:11] When did you hear about the opBART?
[14:12] I don't remember. I'll be right back.
[14:15] I learned about it 4 days ago.
[14:15] I heard* about it.
[14:16] Ok. I can't resist telling you my nationality.
[14:16] I'm french.
[14:16] Humiliating, huh?
[14:16] <@n0pants> heh
[14:17] and when you say girl, are we talking like teenage?
[14:17] <@n0pants> sfweekly800: see privatemesg (n0pants tab) at some point
[14:18] Not a teenage stricto-sensus.
[14:20] Now, no more private infos.
[14:20] OK.
[14:21] do you know anything about how the mybart.org hack happened?
[14:24] I did not take part in this operation.
[14:24] Lack of information, I guess.
[14:26] are you pleased with your attack?
[14:28] I would say I'm satisfied because it really shows how bad the cyber defense of the enemies of free speech and free movement is. I would say it's promissing.
[14:29] And, that is an encouragement to all those who want to join the cyber guerilla.
[14:32] Is Lamaline always your online handle?
[14:33] No, I made it up for this occasion. I don't know If I'm gonna keep it.
[14:35] All right. Well, thanks for chatting!
[14:35] You're welcome.
[14:35] Thank you.
#OpBart-2: The Tip Of The Iceberg
"Public Transit / Sexytime / WTF? Anonymous Circulates NSFW Photos Of BART Spokesman Linton Johnson"
2011-08-24 by Erin Sherbert from [http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2011/08/anonymous_naked_linton_johnson.php]:
Earlier today SF Weekly reported that Anonymous, the secret hacking group responsible for BART protests, fired off a list of demands the transit agency would have to meet before the group would put an end to the weekly protests that have snarled evening commutes [http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2011/08/anonymous_linton_johnson.php]. And one of those demands was for BART to fire its chief spokesman Linton Johnson.
To show they are serious about their ill feelings toward Johnson, members of the group released saucy photos that allegedly show the bare-chested Johnson pulling down his pants, giving a full-frontal view of his genitals. Accompanying the partially nude photos is the following message [http://bartlulz.weebly.com/]: "If you are going to be a dick to the public, then I'm sure you don't mind showing your dick to the public."
Who knows where the vulgar photos originated from, but the pictures are blowing up on Twitter. Johnson became a target after the veteran spokesman told media outlets that it was his idea to shutdown cell-phone service in effort to block coordination of a scheduled protest -- and that it was well within BART's right to do so [http://sfappeal.com/news/2011/08/opbart-and-mubartek-coverage-roundup-everything-you-need-to-know-about-barts-cell-phone-shutdown-hac.php].
Jim Allison, a spokesman for BART, agency said he would not discuss the photos or any other "private matter" of an employee, but he clearly condemned the release of the photos. "They are not only unethical, but illegal," said Allison. He went on to say that the protesters can keep demonstrating all they want, as long as it's done legally. "There are lawful ways to protest outside the fare gates or go to BART board meetings -- that's appropriate, not making anonymous demands," Allison said. "We stand by our decision to interrupt cell-phone service."
BART'S LINTON JOHNSON IN SOME REVEALING PHOTOS!! TIME TO RESIGN FROM BART? [http://t.co/v7hZMGV] #anonymousirc #opbart #anonyops #truthless
than a minute ago via web [http://twitter.com/#%21/RevolutionChan/status/106437810311012352].
LINTON JOHNSON - "The Face Of BART" [http://bartlulz.weebly.com]:
If you are going to be a dick to the public, then Im sure you dont mind showing your dick to the public.... Umad Bro? #Bartlulz
For unbiased BART / ANON news please follow Mrs. Erin Sherbert. Latest Link [http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2011/08/anonymous_naked_linton_johnson.php].
"#OPBART 3"
[https://www.facebook.com/events/221443924571992/]:
2014-08-29, at 5:00pm - 8:00pm
At the CIVIC CENTER BART
PLEASE SELECT ALL YOUR FACEBOOK FRIENDS TO INVITE
Make copies of the flyer and distribute WILDLY! >:-}
Use every organizing tool you got. Text messaging, facebook, twitter, email, word of mouth. Pass out flyers on your school campus. Bring the whole Bay Area to SF CIVIC CENTER! LET'S MAKE THIS BIG! LET'S MAKE SOME NOISE. "WHOSE BART OUR BART WHOSE STREETS OUR STREETS!"
(graphic from among exiledsurfer's Politricks [esp.artificialeyes.tv/anonymous])
Activists are calling for #OpBart-3 on August 29, 5pm at the Civic Center Station in SF.
"#OpBART 3 - until BART announces they will no longer censor people"
2014-08-25 [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/08/25/18688754.php]:
Protests to continue until BART announces they will no longer censor people during peaceful protests
* [https://twitter.com/#!/OpBART]
* [https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23OpBART]
* [https://twitter.com/#!/AnonyOps]
* [http://youranonnews.tumblr.com]
** [http://opbartsf.tumblr.com/post/9310643106/to-the-members-of-the-press-and-bart]
To the members of the Press and BART -
We are Anonymous, over the past two weeks we have proven that we stand by what we believe. You have threatened to shut down cell phone service if needed again, although your threats went empty, the dictator like tactics did not go unnoticed by the world. BART police are becoming increasingly aggressive at the protest, and peaceful protesters are being arrested for “being too loud”. We will continue to show the world why #OpBART is necessary. We have stated and will keep our promise of a protest EVERY week until our demands are met. Since these demands have not reached the BART board of directors yet, we will remind you of what we want in order to stop our protest:
1. Fire Linton Johnson and BART Chief Kenton Rainey.
2. Mandate new training for all BART officers.
3. Publicly apologize to the people for shutting down cell service.
4. Take the guns away from the BART police.
5. Reopen the investigation to the killing of Charles Hill.
Not only will these demands make the public feel more safe riding the BART system, but it will also ensure that BART is taking active steps to correcting it’s mistakes.
So now that we have made ourselves clear, we will continue with #OpBART every week until our demands are met.
We will see you Next Monday the 29th, 2011 Outside the civic center at 5pm.
We are Anonymous,
We are legion,
We never forgive,
We never forget,
Expect us.
SOLIDARITY MESSAGE WRITTEN TO JUSTICE FOR KELLY THOMAS:
We up in the Bay Area stand in solidarity with the "Justice for Kelly Thomas" movement and all family and friends of those who have been unjustly murdered by the American police state and police who murder everyday all through out the world under the banner of "Protect & Serve". To "protect and serve" who? is the fucking question we should be asking? Right?
They don't protect and serve us they harass us and kill us and the hardest way to learn the truth is to lose everything we have and become homeless one day just to see how inhumane they really treat those on the street. You should be well aware that those who are on the receiving end of the states violence almost never come from the upper scale of society which should make you wonder more and not only get angry and ready for some action but more class conscious .
We are not the United States of America but the Divided States of America. We are divided by class where the rich class gets all the protection it needs from the police while they sick the PIGs on the growing poor underclass. This is a class war and the poor are not winning. The police are not your friends. There are no good cops. They all stick up for one another when of the boys get into trouble and the politicians do nothing to help us. Nor does the mass media have our best interest at heart. The work they do or lack of it makes you wonder if all politicians, cops and news networks are all on the same team. Like one big club and none of us are in it.
One can easily argue yes they are all on the same team out to fuck us in the interest of maintaining business as usual for the super rich and for the interest of Wall St.; the same people who brought you the financial crisis. But even before the crisis of 08 began, many people in the ghetto and in other countries felt the brunt of police either trying to repress their dissent against the American Empire or incarcerate Americans trying to make ends meet in a society that has no compassion for human life but for profit. Ask your self this question?
Why are homeless people and poor people of color always the ones to be targeted and not the real criminals in blue suits and business outfits? Why not the banker gangsters that own and run this world plantation? Why not the CEO's who are responsible for creating an atmosphere of great financial inequality and destroying peoples lives all around the world with their exploitative practices? Cops kill for a reason and that reason is to protect and serve the interest of industrial capitalism, NOT US. Tell the police to leave the poor alone.
From the U.S. to Greece, fuck the police!
To San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr, from Anon., 2014-08-25:
This is Anonymous, we until recently did not know who you were. We stumbled upon an article in which you have stated “I don’t want this to be construed as delivering a threat,” But shortly after you go on to make a threat: “It will be different next Monday,” This kind of statement is somewhat amusing because we have stated “We come in peace.”
Now you have our attention, We do not appreciate threats nor do we take well to them, especially from a chief of police who has a very interesting background himself. May we remind you of 2003? Allegedly conspiring to obstruct the investigation into the infamous Fajitagate affair, in which three off-duty cops allegedly beat up two men for their Mexican takeout. Or maybe we should ask Chief Heather Fong why she had to reprimanded you in 2009.
We are Anonymous.
We are Legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Expect us.
Protest Plan For OpBart-3, from Anon., 2011-08-28:
Recently, a document surfaced detailing a plan for the third round of BART protests on August 29th. In it, a suggestion is raised to change the direction of the action: to focus on station closures—rather than police brutality of the BART PD—in an attempt to “shame” BART, or somehow outwit them with logic. The implication is that, once presented with a crowd of protesters bearing signs imploring them not to close stations, BART police will, for unspecified reasons, not attempt to blame closure of the stations on the massed crowd, nor close the stations at all.
This is incorrect and counterproductive, and further illustrates the main problem with OpBART: It is replete in revolutionary fervor, but severely lacking in focused ideology. Because of the decentralized nature of Anonymous, the operation finds itself swinging between causes almost at random, focusing attention on each new injustice, but at the expense of the original message.
Let us be perfectly clear: THE BART OPERATION AND THE PROTESTS SURROUNDING IT SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON THE CONTINUING BRUTALITY AND UNACCOUNTABILITY OF THE BAY AREA TRANSIT POLICE.
To muddy the water by presenting secondary and tertiary issues (such as cell disruption, and unwarranted station closures) as the primary goal of the movement is confusing to activists and the public. Though these issues are completely valid and deserving of address, they must take secondary roles in accordance with their overall importance.
The conduct of attendees to the protests has been similarly counterproductive - Impeding station function and shutting down Market Street does nothing but turn popular opinion against our cause and provide the police with an easy way to vilify us in the eyes of the public. Straying outside of the immediate area of BART stations also places us within the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Police Department—against whom we have NO IMMEDIATE ISSUE.
To this end, we propose the following guidelines for the third round of OpBART, scheduled for Monday, August 29th at 5:00 PM:
1. ASSEMBLE OUTSIDE CIVIC CENTER STATION, IN THE LARGE PLAZA SURROUNDING THE MAIN ENTRANCE. This in NO WAY impedes the function of the station itself, and ensures that the public cannot reasonably see us as “the protesters who kept me from getting home”. The BART police would have NO JUSTIFICATION for shutting down the station, and would be unable to reasonably blame us. Remember, they will be in control of the media narrative, and if they are able to say that we shut down the station, they will. To give BART any excuse whatsoever, is to shoot ourselves in the foot.
2. STAY THERE, STOP RANDOMLY MARCHING AROUND, AND PICK A TARGET. The area is highly visible, both to passengers and passersby. It places us within range of the institution with which we take issue. Marching up and down Market does not expose us significantly more than it would if we stayed put, and staying put again deprives the police and media of their “unreasonable protesters shut down civic infrastructure” monologue.
3. STAY ON MESSAGE. THE PROTESTS ARE ABOUT POLICE BRUTALITY FIRST, AND EVERYTHING ELSE SECOND. Leaping from topic to topic does nothing but confuse those not involved with the operation. The San Francisco Chronicle already has reporters saying that the third round of protests will be about station closures during the first two operations. We CANNOT ALLOW the media narrative to be twisted like this, and to leap from topic to topic based on whatever the newest injustice is does nothing but confuse potential allies and allow the police and media an easy out. The popular narrative already shifted to “hipsters mad about cell reception”, and we ABSOLUTELY MUST shift it back to the issue of POLICE BRUTALITY, and fast.
4. KNOW YOUR TARGETS. THE SFPD ARE NOT THE ENEMY RIGHT NOW. Our issue is with BART police, not the SFPD. Historically, the SFPD has been extremely accommodating to civil protest (see footage and reports from Operation Chanology, which had its biggest turnout in San Francisco), and to rail against them as though they were actually our targets is not productive. DO NOT CONFLATE THE SAN FRANCISCO POLICE DEPARTMENT WITH BART POLICE. The SFPD should not have to clean up the mess BART police created, and BART police should not get a free pass because the protest group wandered out of their jurisdiction.
Anonymous is participating in noble action, placing itself in opposition to police brutality and corruption. Its dedication to the cause of social change is commendable, but its decentralized nature makes it susceptible to derailment by distracting voices. Ideological inconsistency will ultimately do more harm than good, even if the conflicting voices are individually beneficial. To sway people to our cause we must win in the court of public opinion, and to conduct ourselves in such an erratic manner does little in this regard.
UPDATES and COMMENTS:
---
Mokai Blue, 2011-08-29:
Went to the protest, nothing to really to report. I think it's good that they switched over to staying off the platforms, was a cool move, as it confused the authorities. The cops were ready to rumble, with multiple sheriffs and sfpd deployed, processing station for arrests set up at the far end of UN plaza, at least 2 MUNI buses waiting empty to take away arrestees. Riot cops on foot, motorcycles etc. What was weird was the Federal Protective Service vans, not so normal for SF random small protests. Maybe attracted by the Anonymous angle.
---
Breaking news messages from August 29th, from Indybay, 2011-08-31:
Monday Aug 29th, 2011 11:40 PM : Two #OpBART arrestees released about 8:30pm
Monday Aug 29th, 2011 6:42 PM : 2 protesters arrested in Embarcadero station, one of whom was arrested while speaking in a bullhorn near fare gates. #opBART
Monday Aug 29th, 2011 6:32 PM : Protesters are now inside Embarcadero station, speaking in a bullhorn and chanting. #opBART
Monday Aug 29th, 2011 6:22 PM : #opBART protesters have left Montgomery, now walking towards Embarcadero BART station.
Monday Aug 29th, 2011 6:15 PM : Protesters have entered Montgomery BART station; station remains open. SFPD following protesters into the station. #opBART
Monday Aug 29th, 2011 6:06 PM : Protesters entered Powell station and allowed to chant by BART police. Now marching on sidewalk toward Montgomery station.
Monday Aug 29th, 2011 6:04 PM : After police blocked Market St, BART protest split in two and marched on sidewalk to Civic Center and Powell stations
---
** George Franklin, 2011-09-12:
I'm posting mixed feedback, based on participation in a July march (see photo link).
I appreciate all who challenge authority and demand justice. But shutting down BART doesn’t feel effective.
I don't see a clear message. What do we want riders to do? Join our march and risk arrest? Quit using BART and drive their car more? I’d like to see a clear message (and clear leaflets) before we shut down our transit system.
Worse yet – these protests feel like we’re saying: “We can’t get at the actual decision makers, so we’ll go after the average person.” I don't like it.
What if we focused on the BART Board of Directors? This is an elected group that CAN make decisions, yet remains mostly invisible. Let's call them out.
I honor folks who are doing something about this issue. But I would feel a lot more powerful confronting decision makers rather than disrupting BART riders.
** Eric Inraw Sewage, 2011-09-12:
The BART POLICE are the only ones blocking the entrance and shutting down the gates and trapin people in. Go take it up w the chief of police or BART board if you want but it is true that we are not responsible for the bad decision making on behalf of the pigs. Lets say one day we are responsible for blocking BART riders one day though, it wouldn't be such a bad target (strategy wise). Think if BART riders boycotted because they had strong enough passion in their hearts to not promote a system of murder and unaccountable evil. We would be living in a different world and see the world from an entirely different perspective. We don't live in that world of hope. They don't have the heart to do the right thing because it's not where their heart is at. So they too are a part of the system and anyone who knowingly participates in a system of unaccountably and looks the other way shouldn't be shocked to find people are inconveniencing them. Killer cops walk free because of silent BART rider everyday and their contribution to BART is nothing but a stamp of approval for more Oscar Grants and Charles Hills to come in the near future. Hope the message is clear enough for yah. "Can you digit?"
** George Franklin, 2011-09-12:
Thanks for your thoughts, Eric. My concern is, the police blame us – and the corporate media prints that. To most people, we are always going to come out looking like disorganized disrupters. It’s a pre-written story.
I want actions that are (1) unmistakably directed at power, and (2) unmistakably nonviolent.
Why nonviolent? We do not control the political/media terrain. We need to take advantage of media interest in “crime stories” (ie, civil disobedience), yet avoid appearing violent, wantonly disruptive, etc. This can result in good coverage of actions.
I’ve seen actions like this, and some have resulted in major changes – eg, the anti-Apartheid movement of the 1980s and the anti-displacement organizing in SF in the late 1990s.
I think a BART-Board action is the ideal focus. Who is interested?
---
Abolish BART Pig Department, by Sam Francisco, 2011-08-27:
This was posted on Tuesday Aug 16th, 2011, but it's relevant to this debate:
I'm 100% supportive that you all came out for this protest. I was there and had to use BART and made it out of Civic Center Station at a quarter past 5:00. The BART pigs should be disbanded, the fares should also be eliminated with the substantial savings from not having these highly-paid armed murderous thugs, the restrooms should be opened up again and made accessible to EVERYONE. BART workers should have their wages raised and fully-paid benefits should be restored. BART should be FREE!
But 99% of commuters, most of whom are the white-collar multiracial working class, were totally alienated from this action. People weren't clear what the protest was about, most if talked with in more than sound bytes would agree with the free speech issue on the communication shutdown last Thursday. Except for seeing the helicopters, and seeing as many parasites from the corporate media as there were protesters, most riders on BART didn't have the foggiest idea what all this was about.
Organizing something on BART without including BART and Muni workers in solidarity and without drawing in the downtown and Financial District workers won't go beyond symbolism. Just remember the community-wide working class agency and self-organization of the year-long (starting in 1955) Montgomery Bus Boycott against the racist Jim Crow laws on public transportation. Too liberal for you? That's missing the point, because after over a year of struggle the boycott was victorious.
If we want to win we've got to start rethinking our tactics and start thinking about what winning would take.
Lastly, many of us learned long ago that shutting down transit during rush hour AFTER work is doomed to failure. It just pisses people off. Let them get home to their kids, their dinner, and let them unwind from a day of exploitation and misery unmolested. Everyone deserves to get home as quickly as possible to a cold glass of beer after a day of wage slavery.
Do it in the morning instead. Remember the pre-dawn hours of Thursday March 20, 2003 when nearly 20,000 of us tried to shut down San Francisco to stop the war? So many workers were GLAD to have an excuse to be late to work. I remember seeing newsracks and concrete garbage cans knocked into intersections with the help of guys in ties and office clothes. They spent the whole morning participating with the excuse that they had been "tied up in traffic" (which they helped tie up!). People will LOVE you for giving them an excuse to be late -- or to not even come in at all -- to work. And with the chaos that slows them down or prevents them from getting to their awful jobs, we've have time to spell out the issues of the protest and hopefully draw them into joining us.
Then we could attack BART with something more like a strike -- maybe even another general strike with workers shutting down ALL transit (e.g. BART, Muni, SamTrans, AC Transit, Golden Gate Transit, etc., etc.) -- that spreads by working class agency across the entire region, rather that yesterday's symbolism that alienated workers commuting home AFTER work. The point is to prevent anyone from working at all.
New comment on August 27, 2011
I completely agree with deanosor. Occupy and shut down the BART headquarters building in Oakland. And try to draw in rank-and-file transit workers, not only at BART but at Muni, AC Transit, SamTrans, Golden Gate Transit, etc. So the next time a pig murders someone on transit, we do a boycott in solidarity with some kind of "social strike" action (like keep the buses and trains running, but don't collect fares) of transit workers. Since most Muni workers are black and Latina/o, we include them in the planning for spreading the struggle beyond transit and like the "Arab Spring," we draw everyone who's working class, poor, dispossessed, exploited, or oppressed into the struggle.
Our goal should be to exercise real power to force transit agencies to disarm and disband their murderous pigs and to stop the austerity-based attacks on the living conditions of the poor, homeless and working class. As Frederick Douglass said in 1857: "If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without demand. It never did and it never will."
"MD Who Treated Man Shot and Killed by BART Police Will Join Monday’s Protest"
2011-08-28 by Jessica Lum from "Mission Local" [http://missionlocal.org/2011/08/md-who-treated-transient-shot-and-killed-by-bart-police-will-join-mondays-protest/]:
A protester shouts at BART police during a demonstration outside the Civic Center BART station, August 15, 2011.
Dr. Rupa Marya, who treated Charles Hill, a 45-year-old man who was shot and killed on the Civic Center BART platform over the July Fourth weekend, has written an open letter saying she will join the Monday protests.
In the letter, sent to local media, she writes, “It is hard to watch our civil servants (police) brutally handle a person and their body when I spend my time and energy as a civil servant (physician) honoring the dignity of that person….” (The full letter is posted below.)
It’s not clear what impact this will have on Monday’s protests. Anonymous, the hacking group behind the last three Monday protests, reminded supporters today that they should be focused on the BART police and not on BART’s decision in July to prevent a protest by cutting off cellphone reception. “Let us be perfectly clear: THE BART OPERATION AND THE PROTESTS SURROUNDING IT SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON THE CONTINUING BRUTALITY AND UNACCOUNTABILITY OF THE BAY AREA TRANSIT POLICE,” its communique says.
The document urges the protesters to stay aboveground and not to protest on BART platforms.
Dr. Rupa Marya has worked as a physician and professor at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. She’s also a singer and guitarist for Rupa & the April Fishes, a band that traces its roots to the Mission District.
The letter from Dr. Rupa Marya:
Dear San Francisco,
I am one of your local physicians and have taken care of many different kinds of people during the past 9 years of my appointment as an internist at UCSF, where I have worked at SF General Hospital as well as at the VA and the UCSF campuses. San Francisco is a surprisingly small town, and when you spend enough time in the health care industry, you come to recognize many of the city’s residents. You hold their stories and watch over them, in the hospital when they are ill and in the chance occurrences of running into them on the streets, in the market or painting the town red. It is an honor and great privilege to take care of the people of this city that I love so dearly.
Last month, I learned that one of my former patients Charles Hill was shot and killed by BART police. Per the police, he was armed with a bottle and a knife and had menacing behavior. Per eye witnesses, he was altered and appeared to be intoxicated but did not represent a lethal danger. I remember Charles vividly, having taken care of him several times in the revolving door which is the health care system for the people who do not fit neatly into society. Charles was a member of the invisible class of people in SF–mentally ill, homeless and not reliably connected to the help he needed. While I had seen him agitated before and while I can’t speak to all of his behavior, I never would have described him as threatening in such a way as to warrant the use of deadly force. We often have to deal with agitated sometimes even violent patients in the hospital. Through teamwork, tools and training, we have not had to fatally wound our patients in order to subdue them. I understand the police are there to protect us and react to the situation around them, but I wonder why the officer who shot Charles did not aim for the leg if he felt the need to use a gun, instead of his vital organs. I wonder if he possessed other training methods to subdue an agitated man with a knife or bottle.
I feel this situation quite deeply. It is hard to watch our civil servants (police) brutally handle a person and their body when i spend my time and energy as a civil servant (physician) honoring the dignity of that person, regardless of their race or social class, their beliefs or their affiliations. I know it is not my job–nor the police’s job—to mete out justice or judgment of a person’s worthiness. It is also hard because Charles has no voice, no one to speak for him now that he is gone. It would be easy to let this slide and move on with our busy lives, as we all struggle to make ends meet in this expensive city during a recession. I believe this situation shows us how powerless we all feel to some degree.
I feel outraged and am trying to find the best ways to express it–through creative outpouring, through conversations. I would like to lend my voice to the growing protest of the BART police’s excessive use of violent force and know that weekly protests are being organized on Mondays until demands are met for BART to fully investigate the shooting of Charles Hill, disarm its police force and train them properly, as well as bringing the officer who shot him to justice. The media is portraying the annoyance of the protests to commuters more than the unbelievable horror that an innocent man was shot dead by the force that is meant to protect us. I don’t want to upset commuters or be a nuisance. I would like to be part of educating and not letting this slip under the proverbial rug, in honor of Charles Hill and in order to help prevent something like this from ever happening again.
I will be present at the peaceful demonstrations on Mondays in front of the BART Civic Center station, not to prevent commuters from getting home, but to educate a population that may need to pause and think about the value a human life has and the kind of San Francisco we want to live and work in.
Thank you for your time and thoughtful consideration.
Respectfully, [signed] Rupa Marya, MD
“NO JUSTICE, NO BART! PRESS ADVISORY"
[http://pastebin.com/YpmcLxEn]:
Who: No Justice No BART and allied community groups
What: Press Conference and announcement of our next BART demonstration
Time: 4:30 PM, Monday September 5th
Place: Civic Center Station, inside the station but outside the fare gates
Monday September 5th, No Justice No BART will be hosting a press conference at 4:30 PM inside Civic Center BART station. Along with several other community groups, we are planning a mass action on Thursday, September 8th, at the Powell BART station, to demand Justice for Charles Hill, who was needlessly gunned down by BART police. We will demand that the violent, corrupt, and dangerous BART police force be disbanded.
The press conference will include the release of more detailed information about the upcoming action. This action will likely differ from previous No Justice No BART actions in the following ways:
* Our intention is to protest outside the Powell station fare gates, but we will not block emergency exits to and from the station.
* IF our demonstration is successful, passengers will RIDE BART FOR FREE from Powell. We are calling this a SPARE THE FARE day.
* IF BART Police and Administrators attack or interfere with our protest, we move into BART and onto the platforms, which may cause disruption for passengers.
* We are making our strategy public so that people know what to expect and so that BART administrators know that THEY will be held accountable for all disruptions caused by the actions of their police.
Background:
No Justice No BART is a campaign of protests targeting the BART transit agency. We formed 3 years ago in the wake of the BART police murder of Oscar Grant and have been fighting since… for justice for Oscar Grant, Fred Collins, Charles Hill, and all victims of BART police violence and murder. Our core demand is that BART disband its murderous, inept, corrupt police department.
On July 11th, No Justice No BART called a protest on the Civic Center station platform to respond to the BART police killing of Charles Hill. BART to shut down all 4 downtown stations and the disruption to the evening commute impacted thousands of commuters. This demonstration prompted BART to release the video of the shooting weeks ahead of schedule.
On August 11th, fearing another protest by No Justice No BART, BART shut down its cellular service to prevent protesters from communicating with one another. This draconian and illegal decision prompted a strong and negative reaction from people around the world, from organizations such as the ACLU and EFF, and civil disobedience on the streets and the internet organized by the shadowy “Anonymous”.
For the past 3 weeks, community groups have refrained from taking organizing roles in demonstrations against BART, and instead our members have watched or participated as individuals in the weekly (Monday) actions called by Anonymous. On Thursday we will step off the sidelines.
[No Justice No BART is not affiliated with Anonymous, and none of our actions have been been coordinated by Anonymous.]
#OpBart-4 September 5th, 5pm.
(graphic from among exiledsurfer's Politricks [esp.artificialeyes.tv/anonymous])
"Geez, How Many Bay Area TV Reporters Have Recently Sold Out to Work for BART’s Orwellian BARTtv News? Four, At Least"
2011-09-07 [http://sfcitizen.com/blog/2011/09/07/geez-how-many-bay-area-reporters-have-sold-out-to-work-for-barts-orwellian-barttv-news-four-at-least/]:
Yes BART, The Sun Always Shines on TV, certainly. Love that opening. Also, still loving Blue Skies after all these years, so imprinted am I.
But why are you the most TV-obsessed transit agency in the world?
Why have you hired a litany of Kent Brockmans and Cookie Kwans (Member, AAJA) to make real-looking fake TV bits?
Is there some kind of military-industrial complex where every television “transportation reporter” in the Bay Area ends up doing gigs for BART to fool viewers into thinking that they’re watching the news?
Is this why the televised MSM lets BART get away with all the stuff BART gets away with?
I doubt any of these sell-outs still works at the stations what made them famous (I assume, as my govmint digital converter box died last year so all I can get on my 20-year old Sony is snow), but they were on the air in the Bay Area fairly recently. Here’s the partial tally – this is what I’ve noticed in the BARTtv collection from just the past six months.
The “BART-TV News” news team:
* Lisa Bernard San Francisco Bay Area | Broadcast Media - Reporter at KNTV
* Mark Jones of Bubb Rubb and L’il Sis fame - KRON4. This report is particularly egregious. Perhaps the BART Police’s informant was fed bad information on purpose in this instance? Remember, that was the allegation at the time. You know, from the Uhuru group. And then, per BART, after all those “groups” did all that planning, the “sneak attack” “fizzled.” Or maybe there was no sneak attack, BART? I don’t buy BART’s narrative, personally, but you are free to swallow whatever the fuck BART spoon feeds you, certainly, hook, line and sinker:
* Jeffrey Schaub, KGO Radio, CBS5
* And of course, Linton Johnson, who used to be a weekend anchor at KNTV San Jose. Start at about 9:45 to hear him defend his egregious misstatement of law from last month (about BART’s duty to balance the public’s constitutional Right to Safety against the 1st Amendment.) Then he goes, “I am a journalist.” (And I thought he was just a PR hack who costs BART $170+K per year.)
BART, you’re a god-damn embarrassment, that’s what I’m saying.
#OpBart-5, aka V-day.
(graphic from among exiledsurfer's Politricks [esp.artificialeyes.tv/anonymous])
#OpBart-6, Ride The Trains
Same Bat time, same Bat channel: 5pm at the Civic Center Station in SF.
(graphic from among exiledsurfer's Politricks [esp.artificialeyes.tv/anonymous])
#OpBart-7, Ride The Streets
Same Bat time, same Bat channel: 5pm at the Civic Center Station in SF.
(graphic from among exiledsurfer's Politricks [esp.artificialeyes.tv/anonymous])
"#opBART Q&A with MotorMouth: An interview with one of the Anonymous organizers of OpBART, which is set to return Aug. 13"
by @pixplz [https://storify.com/pixplz/opbart-q-and-a-with-motormouth]:
On Aug. 12, 2011, I was drinking my morning coffee and reading Twitter when I noticed that Jacob Appelbaum had posted a link to a story about BART shutting down cell and wi-fi service in some of its stations the previous day. The reason for the shutdown? To thwart another protest against the July 3 killing of Charles Hill by a BART cop.
Within hours, people on Twitter started talking about organizing a new protest. @OpBART - "Born of spilled innocent blood and banned airwaves" - came to life, along with the #MuBARTek and #opBART hashtags.
Then, on Aug. 15, a Monday, the first OpBART street protest happened [http://sfappeal.com/news/2011/08/coverage-roundup-no-ones-suing-bart-mubartek-opbart-protest-right-to-safety.php]. A week later, another one [http://sfappeal.com/news/2011/08/40-arrested-in-bart-protest-monday-night-another-demonstration-planned-for-next-week.php]. In all, the weekly Monday (and once on a Thursday) events went on for nearly two months. Cops arrested dozens of people, including activists, journalists [http://punchingdown.tumblr.com/post/25333474958/punching-down-episode-24-independent-journalist], and even some journalism students I'd brought to practice live tweeting at the #nofare protest on Sept. 8. Along the way, BART-related websites got hacked, and someone caused something of a flap when they circulated some pictures of Linton Johnson, the (now former) BART spokesperson who had originally dreamed up the idea for the cell and wi-fi shutdown [http://www.baycitizen.org/bart-protests/story/bart-cut-cell-service-spur-moment-emails/].
Today, although Linton Johnson has faded from the public eye (while still working for BART), OpBART's stated demand of disbanding the BART cops hasn't been met, BART has exonerated the cop who killed Charles Hill, and Kenton Rainey is still the chief. BART eventually made some changes to its policy on cell service in the stations, but the updated guidelines say the public transit agency can still switch off cell service to its customers, "only in the most extraordinary circumstances that threaten the safety of District passengers,employees and other members of public, the destruction of District property, or the substantial disruption of public transit service."
From the beginning of OpBART, @MotormouthNews on Twitter was, for me, an essential source of up-to-the-minute information about the protests. I don't remember exactly when I started following the account (which has since been hacked, according to MotorMouth), and I didn't even realize at first that it was associated with any of the organizers. And though I consider MotorMouth to be a reliable and entertaining source, I still know next to nothing about who they are - their real name, where they live, and so on. I thought you should know this before you keep reading.
I did this Q&A with MotorMouth over email. I made light edits for structure, spelling, grammar and punctuation in some places. I also added links in MotorMouth's responses.
(Above: The avatar for @ExposeSec, MotorMouth's latest persona on Twitter. At the time I published this interview, the account was down.)
---
[begin interview]
Q. What can you tell us about who you are and what you do?
A. My name is MotorMouthNews aka MotorMouth aka MotorSec, I am an active activist, I plan protests, and I help mentor new online activists and give people support in securing themselves. I help run We Are Hidden which is a group of "OldFags" who wish to remain nameless who are dedicated to keeping new anon secure. I am also a full time activist within the Free Palestine movement. and i am a Grey Hat.
Q. Who was involved in the planning of OpBART? (OK if you want to use Twitter names or other pseudonyms)
A. I cannot say names without their permission, but I will say formerly the original CabinCr3w, started the operation. and lots of other anons helped as well, it was a worldwide effort within anon at the time.
Q. Can you remember the moment you found out about BART's shutdown of cell and wi-fi service in their stations? What were you thinking at that moment, and what did you do next?
A. We were in the cabin one day, researching and working on some things, then we came across the Oscar Grant shooting, and it upset us. We then tried to research the event and location we found out they had also shut down cell service to silence and dismantle protests, this upset us very much, so we decided to make it an op and we ran with it. We very quickly came up with the name OpBART and reached out to the Anon community when we decided on what we would do.
Q. Describe, in as much detail as you can, how people planned the original OpBART protests.
A. We started off finding as much videos as we can, looking at the shooting from many different angles, and seeing how much more crimes the BART PD has committed. We then came up with a plan on how we wanted opBART to be and how we wanted it to run, which in turn ended up being nothing more than a protest, every Monday at the same time until the demands were met. We then pitched it to anons, and had exiledsurfer make some great posters for it, we also had anon2world and anonyops_ make some nice videos, and people took the operation very serious and jumped aboard. This is what made opBART a great op, everyone had part in it and people helped, that's something you don't see anymore. We also got enough info on the area and looked at maps, and got info on stations to direct people, and got people to livestream, which we have never seen done before but thought it would be best to document the protest. We also had everyone give their input or speak about any disagreements they would have if any, which also made it work because everyone worked in solidarity with each other.
Q. What was your favorite moment(s) from the original OpBART, and why?
A. My fav moment from opBART was the very first one, seeing the energy it brought anons worldwide, knowing that we helped an already existing cause get attn was very pleasing to our minds, as this was a very serious cause. It is something i will never forget.
Q. What if anything surprised you about OpBART?
A. It surprised me how it faded, The energy people had about the protests was something that was electrical, and it could have caused more changes if people had kept it up. But Occupy cut into it so it quickly faded.
Q. What do you think OpBART accomplished? Where did it fail? What would you do differently?
A. OpBART brought attention worldwide to BART PD's appalling behavior, it also raised the debate and concerns for censorship within protests, and it helped an already existing movement called "No Justice No BART" push their voice, we helped them, they helped us, and it worked out ok. I do think we got a little crazy with some of the ideas we had, but it was a work in progress and we did not want it to die down, which is where i think we did go wrong, also Occupy cut into it as i said before which also killed the operation, and BART PD started beating protesters which kind of put a little of fear into some of the younger people. I think what i would do differently would be to have started it more earlier throughout the year, and not got crazy with the plans/ideas.
Q. Which ideas? The hacking of mybart.org and bartpoa.com? The circulation of Linton Johnson's pictures?
A. We did not hack mybart.org, someone came into the chat room and said they hacked it for us and we threw them out of the chat room, it was not our intention and we never wanted any hacks associated with this op, this was strictly a physical protest op, as well as awareness. The ideas we later found ridiculous was when we tried incorporating some lulz into the protests and adding themes. The Linton Johnson pictures were justified, as 1. He played this little propaganda game with the BART customers and paid them to lie to the camera, 2. Did not do his job what so ever and said our main goal was to inconvenience the customers, which was NEVER our goal, and we did not, BART chose to shut down the stations because they needed a reason to get the public against us, and we never posed any threat to the customers, BART did..., 3. He needed to be shown he is like any one of us and not above us, which is why his pictures were circulated.
Q. Aside from concrete successes and failures, how important do you think OpBART was, and why?
A. I think OpBART was very important, it showed how fast anon can transform from a cyber superpower to a physical superpower, and we showed how easily we can communicate from the net to the streets and do it highly coordinated. It also set the mood for Occupy in my honest opinion.
Q. Did OpBART change the way you think about activism, and if so, how?
A. OpBART changed the way I saw Anonymous at the time, it also helped people not be afraid to get to the streets so i think it was very crucial.
Q. How did it change how you saw Anonymous?
A. At the time, Anonymous still was unsure as to how powerful they we were, we took for granted the power of the Internet and the power of the people in general. We overcame those stereotypes of misguided teens who stood on the net 24/7 and we showed the world how powerful we can be. This op proved we can be anywhere at any time and do anything we set our minds to.
Q. (Only a couple of activists and a few journalists including me showed up to OpBART 7. By this time, Occupy SF was well underway.)
Why are you bringing back OpBART this year? What are the goals?
A. Well OpBART gave Anonymous hope, and pride, it was also a milestone for a lot of anons even myself, so i think another run at it would be great and to show that we still have our hearts in the right places.
Q. Who's involved in the planning of the new OpBART protest?
A. So far it is just me, i haven't felt the same solidarity i once have felt, and people are still so pre-occupied with Occupy.
Q. What can we expect to see Aug. 13 at the Fruitvale BART station?
A. Hopefully a decent sized protest, and to spark that electricity in the minds of activists once again, and to see anons/Occupy/and pre-existing movements rise back up, the fight isn't over yet, we have a lot more to go, we have new problems coming forth and we have newer enemies we must stand up to. When we stick together and show support for one another, only then can we achieve what we once have achieved, solidarity is more important than people think.
Q. What are the goals of the new opBART protest? Are we still talking about disarming and disbanding the BART police? Pushing for more changes to their policy on cell and wi-fi shutdowns?
A. I think them having the power to shut off cell service now has only made them that more dangerous, and they haven't calmed down whatsoever, they will only get more and more worse as time passes. They need to be disarmed, they need to be retrained, and they need the power of shutting off communications stripped away from them. The FCC should have been on top of this, so they are as much to blame. Hopefully this new protest can show new anons and old anons, that without all of the bs that has come from anon recently, we can do better, we can be back to our original selves, and we can show the world that injustices will not be overlooked.
Q. Are you working with the Occupy Oakland folks on this?
A. I have reached out to Occupy Oakland people since i felt it was only right, since it is their town and they should have some say in this operation, also to get some sign of solidarity and have numbers rise once again. Hopefully we will see all of them out there since these crimes affect them as well.
Thanks, MotorMouth!!
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