Train chief apologises after black man detained for eating sandwich on platform
'We have to read each situation and allow people to get where they are going on time and safely'
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Your support makes all the difference.The general manager of San Francisco’s subway system said he was “disappointed how the situation unfolded” when a black passenger was detained by a white transit officer for eating a sandwich on his local train platform.
“We have to read each situation and allow people to get where they are going on time and safely,” Bob Powers, the general manager of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, told the Associated Press. “I’m disappointed how the situation unfolded.”
A video of the incident has gone viral as viewers said the passenger was only detained and cited for eating on a subway platform — a technical violation that residents say is not typically implemented — because of his race.
The passenger, Steve Foster, can be heard telling the transit officer in the video, “You have no right to be touching my [bag].”
The officer then responds: “You have no right to eat a sandwich on BART.”
Mr Foster’s girlfriend recorded the 15-minute video, which has sparked citywide demonstrations including “eat-ins” on BART subway platforms across San Francisco.
He was given a $250 (£194) fine and ordered to complete 48 hours of public service, according to the AP.
Mr Foster said he did not realise the officer was planning to detain him when he was told not to eat on the BART platform.
“I picked up my bag and was getting in line, and he just grabbed my bag and said, ‘You’re not going anywhere, you’re going to jail,’” he told the news outlet.
The controversy has not just been felt among the city’s residents. BART officials have also spoken out about Mr Foster’s citation, including one of the transit system’s board directors, Janice Li, who has helped organise an eat-in one one of the station platforms.
In a statement, BART clarified that Mr Foster “was not arrested” but instead he was “cited for eating which is a violation of state law”.
A vice president for BART’s board of directors said the transit system’s independent police auditor had received a complaint about the detainment.
An investigation has since been launched into the matter.
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