“Bart needs to step it up!”- Mother of Nia Wilson
At a candlelight vigil at MacArthur BART held for 18 year old Nia, she was remembered as a beautiful, kind soul who had a passion for music and helping people.
In less than a week local news have reported 3 fatalities from attacks on BART passengers with the recent victim being 18 year old Nia Wilson who along with her sister Lahtifa was stabbed in an unprovoked incident at MacArthur station this past weekend by John Lee Cowell who managed to change clothes and flee the scene before police arrived. Whether or not it was a hate crime? In my PO opinion yes and when did racially motivated murders actually STOP for Black people here in this country? We have been purged for centuries under wite (non) supremacy rule even to this very day.
The security for BART passengers has come up short and the bandage of fake cameras puts people at risk, stalls investigators in an event that something happens and does nothing to deter crime in any way. Earlier in the year 10 youth boarded a train and robbed a female passenger of her phone and in April as many as 40 youth roughed up and robbed passengers on a BART train- only two suspects were arrested at the time.
The two other BART fatalities was that of a 47 year-old man injured at Bayfair BART station. Don Stevens was punched in the head and was declared brain dead due to the blow.
51 year-old Gerald Bisbee was assaulted at Pleasant Hill station and died due to an infection from a cut he sustained in the attack.
The last time I checked the BART police were in full effect for the incident that costed Oscar Grant his life but BART police have been dragging their feet when it comes down to the security of the passengers. If a person’s safety or life’s in danger do you really put them on hold? What person doesn’t mind being on hold while their blood is being spilled? If BART has the money to pay employees an abundance of overtime then BART can spread that revenue to invest in the safety of its passengers because it is direly needed. How many people have to get hurt, robbed or killed at a BART station before someone gets a clue!? You raise the fares, be fair and put the people’s money to use and protect public transportation passengers!
I have reduced my BART usage by at least 50% because it is not 100% safe at all. I have been accosted as a BART passenger and though I am aware that we are running out of safe places everywhere we go. How do we maintain safety without police? I have seen people from the community protect the community effectively when the police couldn’t or wouldn’t and BART the folks are calling you out: More efficient protection and now!
Queennandi Xsheba, PNN KEXU