BART stations reopened after third evening of protests

Protesters who snarled the Bay Area's regional train commute for the third time since July 11 grew to about 200 Monday evening before the event wound down about 9 p.m., with all stations reopened.

The demonstration prompted the closure of two Bay Area Rapid Transit stations near Union Square and City Hall in San Francisco. BART police first reopened the stations shortly after 6 p.m. but as the crowd grew and pulsed back and forth on Market Street, closed and reopened them several times.

Trains still carried commuters home but they had to walk or take a cab to more distant stations to board.

The demonstrators were expressing anger at two fatal shootings by officers, most recently in early July, and at BART for shutting off cellphone service to preempt an Aug. 11 protest. About 10 people were arrested earlier in the evening, according to local media accounts.

Both stations reopened by 8:30 p.m. and San Francisco police, who had donned riot gear and monitored protesters above ground as they chanted and blocked traffic, were beginning to make additional arrests of remaining demonstrators near the city's main library by 9 p.m., the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

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-- Lee Romney in San Francisco

Photo: A Bay Area Rapid Transit train. Credit: Los Angeles Times