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The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, a government agency, announced Tuesday that it will no longer help transport riot officers with the San Francisco Police Department, another government agency, because of racism.
“This news comes after the transit agency was criticized on social media for videos uploaded by users showing officers in riot gear departing packed buses in downtown San Francisco earlier this month,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.
Videos like this:
Just saw hella cops being transported in buses in the city pic.twitter.com/lkFI1WMOpZ
— JaszyyE (@JaszyyE) May 31, 2020
seen on facebook, another video of muni buses used as riot cop transport.
from: https://t.co/hApdCQV6Ux pic.twitter.com/EzRDtfd4R9
— chris arvin 💕 🌁 (@chrisarvinsf) June 2, 2020
The footage emerged as San Francisco and other major Democrat-controlled metropolises across the country were facing widespread rioting, looting and, in some cases, murder, amid the death of convicted armed robber George Floyd.
“Groups of vandals broke away from large protests seeking justice for slain African-American man George Floyd this weekend by targeting destruction and theft on high-end shops in San Francisco’s Union Square as well as in other businesses districts throughout the Bay Area,” the San Francisco Business Times reported on June 1.
“In Union Square, Saks 5th Ave., Victoria Secret and Cartier were among businesses that suffered major losses and damage to their flagship stores at the hands of baseball bats and crowbars. Other downtown businesses that reportedly sustained damage include CVS, Walgreens, the AT&T store, Urban Outfitters, Swatch, Dolce & Gabbana, Coach, Salvatore Ferragamo, Swarovski, Crate & Barrel and Louis Vuitton.”
See footage from the riots below:
“We transport everyone at MTA and make sure our services are available for critical needs,” SFMTA reportedly initially said in response to the complaints.
“From the COVID+ patients we transported to health care and rooms to SFPD officers, Muni is for everyone. To be clear, no Muni vehicles or employees will be used to transport any detainee.”
But after backlash from Maoist-like mobs who apparently believe rioting ought to be tolerated, the agency bent the knee. And so on Tuesday, the SFMTA not only paused its services for nearly nine minutes in honor of Floyd — never mind the people who needed to get to work — it also cut off the police.
Look:
Today at noon, we will pause our work for eight minutes and 46 seconds to honor George Floyd. This symbolic action reflects the SFMTA’s efforts to address systemic racism as a part of our day-to-day work at the agency. pic.twitter.com/R6ClUhN3bV
— SFMTA (@sfmta_muni) June 9, 2020
While safety continues to be our first priority, we cannot move forward without reflecting on our agency’s history, current practices around race, and how our agency can heal and specifically support black and brown communities.
— SFMTA (@sfmta_muni) June 9, 2020
As we prepare for this moment of reflection, Muni operators will stop in observance when it’s safe to do so. This memorial was suggested by one of our transportation controllers. We’re proud of our staff & their commitment to better serving the communities that need us most.
— SFMTA (@sfmta_muni) June 9, 2020
We want to be clear about the SFMTA’s commitments going forward. We have an opportunity as agents of change.
— SFMTA (@sfmta_muni) June 9, 2020
1. We will continue to advance our Racial Equity work as outlined and implement our Muni Service Equity Strategy: https://t.co/5Zx3rvKhJk
— SFMTA (@sfmta_muni) June 9, 2020
2. We’ll advance our agency-wide implicit bias training and other equity trainings that provide us with personal/professional tools to address the agency’s and our own bias to ensure that all are heard and included in our future.
— SFMTA (@sfmta_muni) June 9, 2020
And 3. The SFMTA will no longer transport SFPD to anti-police brutality protests.
— SFMTA (@sfmta_muni) June 9, 2020
We appreciate our riders and are so thankful to our staff. We hope you join us today at noon for eight minute and 46 seconds to reflect on Mr. Floyd’s life, and the work ahead of us to make a more accessible and equitable system.
— SFMTA (@sfmta_muni) June 9, 2020
Besides turning its back on city officers, the agency will also be prioritizing “agency-wide implicit bias training.”
In a statement to the Chronicle, local official Erica Kato said the move was designed “to support our staff and black and brown community.”
In his own statement, SFMTA director of transportation Jeffrey Tumlin thanked members of the mob for inspiring the agency to look into “undoing the deep structural racism at root of all transportation depts.”
Thanks to our staff and riders for sparking 100s of conversations at @sfmta_muni about undoing the deep structural racism at root of all transport depts. We have a lot of work to do. THREAD https://t.co/detd8UhtBC
— Jeffrey Tumlin (@jeffreytumlin) June 9, 2020
It’s unclear what makes transportation departments racist, especially given that they’re responsible for providing transportation to countless non-white Americans.
“Among urban residents, 34% of blacks and 27% of Hispanics report taking public transit daily or weekly, compared with only 14% of whites,” the Pew Research Center revealed in 2016. “One possible reason that blacks, Hispanics and immigrants might be bigger users of public transit is because they are more likely than Americans overall to live in large metropolitan areas, where there tend to be more public transit options.”
“They are also less likely to have access to an automobile than other groups and are more likely to use public transit for commuting to work. Blacks and Hispanics also tend to live farther away from their jobs, which could make walking or biking to work less common.”
If anything, it seems like public transportation has been a boon for minority communities. But hey, what do facts have to do with racial narratives, right?
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.
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