BART Running Smoothly Day After Announcement of Mehserle Conviction

Bay Area Rapid Transit  service is running normally by 7 a.m. All stations are open and no delays have been reported.

Yesterday afternoon, East Bay commuters worried about getting home after the  conviction in the Johannes Mesherle Trial was announced. Still, most commuters coming through the Dublin-Pleasanton BART station only faced crowded trains rather than delays.

Those who arrived before at their home stations before the usual rush hour, avoided later protests, looting and police clashes, as well as disruptions reported at some downtown Oakland stations. 

A Southern California jury found former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Hayward resident Oscar Grant on New Year's Day 2009.

A rally that started around 6 p.m. at 14th Street and Broadway quickly swelled to hundreds of people. Within two hours, some protesters had begun to clash with police. Looting broke out, and crowds smashed windows at various businesses, news reports say.

As of 10:30 p.m. Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts said about 50 people had been arrested, mostly for failing to disperse.

The Oakland Tribune reported that shortly before 10 p.m. someone set a garbage can on fire and threw it down the stairs of the 19th Street BART station. BART closed the 19th Street Station, and it remained closed as of midnight. Some entrances of the 12th Street Station also were closed but trains were still operating from there. 

East Bay-bound commuters, concerned about possible BART disruptions due to protests, got an early start home after the verdict was read around 4 p.m.

KTVU said workers, many with permission from their employers, participated in a mass exodus from Oakland and San Francisco just after the word came about 3 p.m. that a verdict was pending.

Their cars clogged roads and freeway lanes leading out of Oakland, and BART trains were more crowded than usual. 

PG&E temporarily closed two of their customer service offices in Oakland due to safety concerns, a spokeswoman for the company said.

Ronnie Chua, who works in Oakland and is a Danville resident, said his bosses allowed workers to go home if they wanted to. He left Oakland before the verdict was announced.

"It was hectic, people were coming out all at the same time," he said.

BART spokesman Linton Johnson said the stations "are indeed packed" and that the agency is making "trains as long as we can make them."  Johnson said station agents at some stations might have to limit the number of people on platforms by holding them outside the fare gates.

"It's simply trying to meter the number of people onto the platforms to not have a safety issue," he said.

Grant, an unarmed African American man, was shot on the train platform while officers were trying to arrest him after a disturbance on the train. Mehserle, who is white, has said he intended to use his Taser.

Commuters looking for alternative ways to get around, can contact 511.org, a free public transit planner for the nine-county Bay Area.

BART provides daily updates on service status through the following:

Website:  www.bart.gov

Twitter:  www.twitter/SFBART 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bartsf

Phone: 510-465-BART (2278)

BARTtv News: www.bart.gov/barttv

Mobile: m.bart.gov

E-mail/SMS alerts: www.bart.gov/alerts

SMS on demand: Text 'BART service' to 878787 or visit www.bart.gov/sms 

Oakland police is providing Twitter updates.

Bay City News contributed to this report.