OAKLAND — The man detained for eating a sandwich on a BART station platform last week has filed a civil rights claim against the transit agency, alleging that its officers engaged in racial profiling and selective law enforcement.
A video of the man, Steve Foster, eating a sandwich while being questioned by BART police at the Pleasant Hill station went viral over the weekend, angering riders and prompting an “eat in” protest at BART stations on Saturday. Foster claims that officers were clearly angry and yelled at him even calling him an “idiot” and “stupid,” according to his attorney.
The claim, filed Thursday morning against BART by the law offices of well-known Bay Area civil rights attorney John Burris, alleges that officers do not typically enforce the “no eating” rule at BART stations, and that the Pleasant Hill station itself lacks proper signage to tell riders that eating isn’t allowed.
Foster, 31, who lives in Concord and works in San Francisco, was heading to his job that day, and said he typically grabs something to eat before his morning commute. When the officer approached him on Nov. 4, telling him he couldn’t eat on BART, Foster said he responded that he was going to finish the sausage-and-egg breakfast sandwich before he boarded the train. But when Foster grabbed his backpack to leave, the sandwich still in his hand, the officer took hold of the backpack and told him he was detained and couldn’t leave.
“I didn’t think it was that serious,” he said, stating he initially thought the officer was joking.
Footage of the encounter — which have gained more than 4 million views on Facebook and Twitter since they were posted Friday — shows Foster being held by an officer while he’s eating a sandwich on the platform. When Foster asks why he is detained, the officer responds “for eating! It’s illegal.” Within minutes at least three additional BART police officers arrive, handcuffing Foster and escorting him down the platform, and then out of the station.
Burris said that the “over the top” situation could have easily been avoided with a simple admonishment by the officer; Foster said he was never given a warning by the officer.
Burris said that the transit agency’s officers engaged in racial profiling and selective law enforcement, as other BART riders routinely eat food on the platform undisturbed.
“This is a case in which the officers should have exercised common sense and de-escalation. Unfortunately, Mr. Foster had to be embarrassed, humiliated, and handcuffed for doing something that everyone does on the platform every day,” Burris said.
The Pleasant Hill BART station itself has a cafe, called “All Aboard” where food such as sandwiches and beverages are sold on the first floor of the station. There are no tables or chairs for patrons to sit and eat their food, and no signs to not eat in the area, Foster’s attorney said.
A video of the station’s platform shows one faded sign by the elevators that tells patrons “No smoking, eating, drinking, graffiti.”
Foster was cited with an infraction and then released; his attorneys said that, as a result of the incident, he missed work and experienced emotional distress and humiliation.
The incident has 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.
In a statement Monday, BART’s general manager Bob Powers issued a public apology to Foster.
“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 in the statement.
BART has 45 days to either accept or reject Foster’s claim; after that period, Burris said, Foster will have the option of filing a lawsuit against the agency.
