Protesting teens shut 3 BART stations BAY AREA Hundreds heading to San Francisco to protest U.S. immigration actions catch transit officials by surprise

Protesters marched up Washington Street on their way to the the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in San Francisco to protest ICE raids. Protesters marched up Washington Street on their way to the the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in San Francisco to protest ICE raids. Photo: Kurt Rogers, The Chronicle Photo: Kurt Rogers, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Protesting teens shut 3 BART stations 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Hundreds of youths heading to a political protest jumped BART fare gates Friday morning, catching transit officials off-guard and forcing shutdowns at three East Bay stations that stranded some passengers for more than an hour.

The Fruitvale and Coliseum stations in Oakland and the Richmond station were all closed starting about 9:15 a.m. as young people heading for a rally in San Francisco against enforcement of federal immigration laws evaded fares. All three stations reopened by 10:30 a.m., but BART closed the Fruitvale station a second time for nearly an hour starting at 11 a.m. as more youths jumped the gates.

When the station reopened, security officers with dogs stood watch to make sure everyone paid.

In addition to the station closures, some BART trains bound for San Francisco were delayed at the West Oakland station by protesters holding doors open and demanding that Fruitvale be reopened, passengers and BART officials said.

Passengers and protesters said the delays caused anger that almost boiled over into blows at the stations and on the trains.

No injuries were reported in the mass fare-evasion scheme, which took BART officials by surprise. BART spokesman Linton Johnson said it appeared that the youths had made a coordinated decision to jump the fare gates.

Police detained three people at the Richmond station. Johnson did not know whether anyone was arrested.

The protesters were heading to a rally at Ferry Park on San Francisco's Embarcadero, where about 400 people began a noontime march through the Financial District opposing enforcement actions taken by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The youths, many wearing skull makeup, tied up traffic on several streets, but the protest was peaceful.

The protesters marched up Washington Street with a police escort to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service building at 630 Sansome St. Some protesters chained themselves to oil drums designed to block vehicles. Police decided to wait them out and made no arrests.

BART officers were dispatched to monitor the crowds, and BART was prepared to shut down San Francisco stations if demonstrators tried to hop the fare gates again, Johnson said. That didn't happen, however, and the evening commute went smoothly.

One of the protest organizers, Sagnicthe Salazar of a youth group called Huaxtex, said the protesters had jumped fare gates because they were organized independently and had no funding.

Outside the Fruitvale station, fuming would-be passengers were forced to wait out the delays before they could get on a train.

"I am on my way to a family emergency and no, I'm not in a good way right now," said Lisa Roellig of Oakland, whose mother was in a hospital.

At the rally in Ferry Park, protesters said the BART ride from the East Bay was tense as youths delaying trains argued with commuters and other passengers.

"This was a peaceful protest. We were not trying to start anything," said Kenya Ramirez, 17, who traveled from San Diego for the rally. "We were just trying to get our message out. Our message is civil disobedience."

She said the students had held train doors open at several stations so fare jumpers could get on board.

"The other people were getting upset because they had someplace to go," Ramirez said. "We're doing it for them. They were being a little selfish."