Press TV
August13, 2011

A US rail transit provider has disabled cell phone services in order to confound a demonstration over the shooting of a man by police.

On Thursday, the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system had given orders to cell phone providers to cut services to travelers on four downtown subway platforms in San Francisco, California, AFP reported.

Civil rights groups say the transit provider’s action was not legal, and that it was against the US Constitution’s First Amendment right which accords free speech to its citizens.

Demonstrators had planned a second protest for Thursday to lambast the shooting death of Charles Hill, killed on July 3 by BART police officers.

Hill was fatally shot after he attacked police with a knife.

The first demonstration, held eight days after the killing, had led to the shutdown of three San Francisco BART stations.

BART’s shutting down of telecommunications is reflective of the British government’s recent moves to find ways to stop communications among individuals wreaking havoc in the UK.

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