A video of man arrested at a BART station in San Francisco for eating a sandwich has sparked outrage, with some communters organizing an eat-in protest.
AsSFist reported, Bill Gluckman was arrested after an officer singled him out for eating a breakfast sandwich. "You're eating. It's against the law," officer D. McCormick told Gluckman while holding onto his bag. "You're going to jail," McCormick said.
"For eating a fucking sandwich?" Gluckman answered.
Gluckman was not taken to jail, but he was placed in handcuffed and given a citation at the Pleasant Hill BART station. "No matter how you feel about eating on BART, the officer saw someone eating and asked him to stop, when he didn’t, he was given a citation," BART spokesperson Alicia Trost said of the incident. "The individual was not cooperative and was not providing his identification which is needed for a citation and is why the engagement lasted as long as it did."
Trost said an independent police auditor is reviewing the case.
Understandably, the ordeal has received significant backlash online, with many labeling it as a racist abuse of power.
After the video went viral, San Francisco residents took to Embarcadero station to protest the arrest by eating food. "I've got my lunch here, it's very threatening as you can see," commuter JJ Naughton joked to ABC7.
BART Board of Directors member Janice Li was also on the scene to show her support, expressing that there's more severe problems than people eating on the platform and trains. "I realize some things are illegal with our penal code, but I want to be mindful of how we're using resources to enforce our system," said Li.
