Bay of Rage Continues: BART Shuts Powell Station Down Amid Latest Protest

The Blaze recently reported that a planned protest in San Francisco called “Spare The Fare” -- allegedly intended to shut the Bay Area Rapid Transit's (BART) police force down -- was set to take place at rush hour Thursday. The details of the protest, organized by a group dubbed “No Justice, No BART,” were covered on the anti-capitalist group "Bay of Rage's" website.

“Spare The Fare” explained its mission:

We are calling on anarchists, anti-authoritarians, and radicals (and everyone else) to step up for our “SPARE THE FARE” BART action, this Thursday at 5:00 PM at Powell Street Station.  We have one demand, which is that the BART police department be shutdown.

Now, CBS San Francisco reports that police have in fact closed down the Powell Street BART Station Thursday night as protesters closed in on the location.

The station's shut-down reportedly came during a standoff between about 50 protesters and swarms of police in riot gear.

CBS adds:

Demonstrators gathered around 5 p.m. to protest the fatal shooting of 45-year-old Charles Hill by BART police in July.

Powell Street station was closed and around 20 to 25 arrests were made, according to police Deputy Chief Hartwig.

Protesters were still gathered outside the gates of the station as of 6 p.m. and police were demanding that all those inside the station, including reporters, leave the premises.

BART officials said all other stations were open and train service was on time

According to CBS, BART spokesman Jim Allison said the transit system has spent roughly $300,000 on increased manpower expenses during the protests that have taken place at San Francisco stations over the course of the past two months.

Watch the latest developments below: