A top BART official apologized on Monday after a Bay Area man was arrested for eating a sandwich on the platform last week, capping a viral incident that angered riders and spurred an “eat-in” on Saturday.
In a statement, the transit agency’s general manager Bob Powers apologized directly to the rider, identified by KTVU as Steve Foster of Concord, and said he was “disappointed” in how the situation unfolded.
“Enforcement of infractions such as eating and drinking inside our paid area should not be used to prevent us from delivering on our mission to provide safe, reliable, and clean transportation,” Powers said. “…I apologize to Mr. Foster, our riders, employees, and the public who have had an emotional reaction to the video.”
Videos of the Nov. 4 encounter have racked up more than 1 million views on Facebook and Twitter since they were posted Friday. They show Foster being stopped and later handcuffed by BART police officers as he holds a sandwich at the Pleasant Hill station.
BART said Foster was stopped for eating in the system, which is against state law, and that Foster was handcuffed when he refused to provide his name for the citation. Foster also allegedly “cursed at and made homophobic slurs” at the officer, Powers said.
But the incident spawned outrage among other Bay Area transit riders, many of whom saw it as a racially motivated case of an overzealous officer enforcing a little-known rule. Foster is black; the officer who arrested him is white.
Powers did not address that outcry in his statement, but wrote that “the officer was doing his job but context is key … We have to read each situation and allow people to get where they are going on time and safely.”
The independent auditor who oversees BART police will investigate the incident, Powers said, and report findings to the Citizen Review Board.
Citizens responded quickly to register their frustration. On Saturday, least a dozen people — including BART Director Janice Li — ate sandwiches and pork buns on the station’s platform in a protest against the arrest.
Li’s presence in particular caused a separate wave of ire from the police officers association and leaders of the BART police management team, who demanded an apology and said that the director was “advocating lawlessness.”
For her part, Li has previously said that the transit system has “way bigger problems” than enforcing the no eating or drinking rule.
“I will be reporting this behavior to @CitizenApp immediately,” Li joked on Twitter during the eat-in, alongside a photo of smiling riders munching on ice cream cones.
I will be reporting this behavior to @CitizenApp immediately #eatingonBART https://t.co/R6qM4AQJnV
— Janice Li (@JaniceForBART) November 9, 2019