Critics savagely mock 'bystander intervention cards' from Bay Area transit system to be handed out amid harassment situations



Critics are brutally mocking "bystander intervention cards" touted by Northern California's Bay Area Rapid Transit system for use during harassment situations.

BART on Friday posted instructions on X about the cards: "You can ask any station agent for BART’s free bystander intervention cards, which you can use if you’re experiencing or witnessing harassment in stations and trains."

The post includes a video featuring two female college students who ride BART and explain how the cards work. When riders are being harassed, they can hand out the "You got me?" cards as a request for help; when riders believe they are witnessing others being harassed, they can hand out the "I got you" cards to the perceived victim:

— (@)

One student in the video says the cards "give me a concrete way to deal with an unsafe situation. I'm not very equipped to deal with them on my own, and so these cards give me a sense of community and a sense of support."

The second student says "especially for young college students and for youth, I think these cards are really accessible. It just gives a really easy way to either help someone or to ask for help without having to do much. If everyone has one then we'll just be able to support each other so much better and feel safer."

Oh, and they're free.

Here's the primary post with the video:

— (@)

How are people reacting?

As you might expect, critics haven't been too kind to BART and its "bystander intervention cards." As of Monday afternoon, BART's primary post is getting ratioed at two-to-one rate. Here are but a few of the many blistering reactions:

  • "Are children running BART? This is a shamefully juvenile approach to crime. Why don’t you hang 'crime-free zone' signs? Worked so well in those drug-free zones. Wish I could fire who is behind this," one commenter wrote.
  • "When you see someone getting stabbed, hand them an 'I got you' card and wait for them to ask you to call someone," another user quipped.
  • "Have you tried doing an interpretive dance to stop attackers yet?" another commenter wondered.
  • "Are you f***ing kidding me?" another user asked.
  • "This is what happens when sociology majors are given power to make decisions," another commenter observed.
  • "This is parody, right?" another user queried.
  • "Clearly you guys posted this 2 days early," another commenter noted. "April 1st is a not here yet."
  • "Here are the rules for men," another user stated. "1. Help the woman being attacked. 2. If you injure the attacker, you go to jail."
  • "This is not real right!? This is a sketch comedy routine right? Cause unless those cards 'magically' transport you out of the situation then they are useless! And BTW, who can up with this idea? What [clown] got paid money to come up with this!?" another commenter asked.

Then there's this gem:

Image source: X

Anything else?

BART added in its post that the bystander intervention cards "were created as part of BART’s Not One More Girl campaign, which encourages safety through bystander support and awareness, especially for girls and gender-expansive youth."

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Pro-Palestinian protesters actually toss their car keys into water while shutting down major bridge during rush hour



A mob of pro-Palestinian protesters during Thursday morning's rush hour stopped their vehicles and blocked traffic on the Bay Bridge — which connects San Francisco and Oakland — then proceeded to throw their car keys into the water below, forcing their vehicles to be towed.

What are the details?

The chaos began around 7:45 a.m. and ended four hours later with at least 70 arrests and 29 towed cars, KTVU-TV reported, adding that all lanes finally reopened just before noon.

"This was very well planned," California Highway Patrol Officer Art Montiel told the station.

More from KTVU:

The Arab Resource and Organizing Center was among the organizers of the Bay Bridge blockage, demanding a ceasefire, and calling out President Joe Biden to do more for the Palestinians — 11,000 of whom have so far died in the war between Israel and Hamas.

"There’s a genocide happening in #Gaza and @POTUS is hosting cocktail parties in #SanFrancisco," AROC tweeted. "Bay Area has shut down the Bay Bridge to demand #CeasefireNOW. No more $ for genocide."

Many chained themselves together, chanting "Free Palestine" and "We want justice." They also used a "sleeping dragon" maneuver, handcuffing themselves together with PVC pipe. The move makes it hard for police to cut off their cuffs. The CHP said dozens of protesters threw their car keys into the bay, forcing the vehicles to be towed away, creating more havoc on the bridge.

A KTVU cameraman managed to walk along the span of the bridge, livestreaming video of protesters lying in body bags, with fake blood smeared on them to represent the Palestinian lives lost in the war.

Aisha Mizar — an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement — told the station she was excited to be on the bridge and gaining attention for the cause. Believe it or not, Mizar added to KTVU that commuters didn't seem to mind not being able to move for more than an hour — although the station said that observation didn't match what angry and frustrated commuters said on social media.

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Enough teachers can't afford to live in pricey northern California city where they work, so school district asks community members to rent rooms to them



A northern California school district is asking community members to rent rooms to teachers who can't afford to live in the pricey area, National Public Radio reported.

What are the details?

Unaffordable housing in northern California has been a longtime problem that seems to keep getting worse. It's so bad that many folks can't afford to live where they work — and that includes public schoolteachers in Milpitas, a Silicon Valley city north of San Jose.

The Milpitas Unified School District has asked people in the expensive area to rent rooms to district teachers, NPR said, adding that last month's appeal came after staffing losses.

The district in the last year lost 10 teachers, officials told the outlet, adding that seven moved to "more affordable" communities,= and three left California.

Two district surveys conducted in 2017 and 2021 showed that some staff members had long commutes and lacked steady housing, Superintendent Cheryl Jordan said at a recent school board meeting, according to NPR.

The Milpitas school board declared in a resolution that "the gap between those who can afford a home in the San Francisco Bay Area and those who cannot, is widening at an alarming rate, with some having to hold part-time jobs to meet monthly housing expenses, and affordable rental housing is in short supply," the outlet added.

NPR also said the district also has explored fixes such as coordinating with agencies that offer loans to educators and considering building small homes on the same lots as larger ones.

What happened since the call went out?

Jordan added to the outlet in a statement that the district has received 55 responses to its rent-to-teachers request — apparent proof that district staff members are "valued by our Milpitas community members, parents and caregivers."

However, the district had not yet heard from employees who secured rooms due to the district's appeal, district spokesperson Scott Forstner told the outlet.

Citing Realtor.com, NPR reported that the median home price in Milpitas is $1.3 million. The outlet added that about 4 in 5 California counties have experienced median home price increases year over year, according to data released last month by the California Association of Realtors.

Bullet flies through couple's windshield during freeway shootout, missing them both — and it's all caught on dashcam video



Dashcam video caught the moment a bullet flew through an engaged couple's windshield during a shootout on a northern California freeway last month — and it missed them both.

Garrett Mason and Tina Do — who are planning a December wedding — shared their terrifying ordeal with KGO-TV.

What are the details?

On June 14, Mason and Do had just left work in San Leandro — about a half hour east of San Francisco across the San Francisco Bay — and hopped on the eastbound Interstate 580 around 5 p.m., the station said.

It would not prove to be your average Tuesday afternoon rush-hour hassle.

Instead they found themselves in the middle of a shootout as one vehicle cut them off and another tailed them, KGO said.

"Maybe within 15 seconds of getting on the freeway, the first vehicle shot back at the second vehicle lined up on the freeway," Mason told the station.

Suddenly — as their dashcam was recording everything — a bullet flew through their front windshield and exited through their rear window, the station said.

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

"He heard a few rounds at that point, and when it hit the front windshield, I thought it was a rock," Do told KGO. "I didn't know it was a bullet at all. I was literally feeling my body making sure nothing else was hurt. We had minor scratches."

Police told the couple that freeway shootings aren't uncommon, the station said, adding that there have been more than 80 freeway shootings in the Bay Area in the last four years, with most of them happening in Oakland. Statewide in that time period, there have been more than 215 freeway shootings, KGO said.

"Really the only rare part of the scenario is the bullet went right past her face," Mason added to the station.

"I grew up in the South Bay, so it's like my family is all here," Do noted to KGO, blinking back tears as she added that "now that it's like personally hit me, and you don't want it to like affect anyone else. It's really disappointing it's happening in our hometown."

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

Mason told the station that "unfortunately we were in the wrong place at the wrong time" before Do interjected: "Also luck at the right time."

Mason — who was behind the wheel when the shot came through their windshield — added to KGO that "people have commented ... if you were a second faster or slower in our car, how could that have changed where the bullet is. But [we] can't think too much about the what ifs — it's just where we're at."

With that Do noted to the station, "So you can say that we literally dodged a bullet."

Fed-up customer body-slams, wrestles shoplifting duo outside Walgreens: 'I am way bigger than you, and I will f*** you up!'



A fed-up Walgreens customer — tired of the rampant, brazen shoplifting in Alameda, in northern California, with little resistance and fewer consequences — decided to do something about it Saturday when he witnessed a man putting bottles of pills into a backpack, KGO-TV reported.

What are the details?

The customer — who requested the station use only his first name, Kevin, for its report — told KGO, "I said [to myself], 'This is a time you can make an impact, make this happen.'"

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

And what an impact he made.

Kevin handed his cell phone to another person in the store and asked that person to record what was about to happen. Video shows Kevin on top of the suspected shoplifter dressed in a grey hoodie.

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

The suspect yells out, "Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" and Kevin can be heard yelling for bystanders to call police.

"I am way bigger than you, and I will f*** you up!" Kevin growls at the suspect. "I am placing you under citizen's arrest!" He also tells the suspected shoplifter that prices are going up because of crooks like him.

KGO said after more than a two-minute struggle, the suspect begins yelling out to a friend.

"He kept calling for his friend, and I thought he was fibbin'," Kevin told the station.

But the suspect wasn't lying. A man dressed in blue soon walked up to the scene and got directly involved.

"He came behind me and tried to get me in a headlock," Kevin told KGO in regard to the second assailant. Kevin is heard on video mockingly inquiring of the suspected shoplifter, "Is that your boy?"

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

Kevin had no trouble with Contestant Number Two, either: "I picked him up by the groin and threw him to the ground."

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

What happened next?

Indeed, all good things must come to end, and this dust-up concluded with the suspects running to their nearby getaway car, the station said.

Police said when bystanders try to stop crimes like shoplifting, they open themselves up to litigation and possible charges if the suspect is arrested, KGO said, adding that many big businesses don't want to participate in an investigation.

And wouldn't you know that while police said the stolen merchandise was recovered in this latest Walgreens incident, the store didn't seek prosecution, the station said.

'It's infuriating'

"I could have been charged with assault and may be charged with assault," Kevin told KGO. "It's infuriating. We're all realizing it in Northern California — little, soft cities like this."

But would he do it again?

"My mom would kill me. My friends will kill me," Kevin told the station. "But yeah, I'd do it all over again."

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