BART General Manager Bob Powers acknowledged that while food consumption is prohibited in paid areas of stations, a policy visibly posted throughout all BART locations—the officer’s actions may have escalated unnecessarily.
“The officer, who was responding to another call, saw the man eating and asked him to stop,” Powers explained in a statement. “Unfortunately, the situation escalated rather than being resolved.”
The man, identified in local media reports as Steve Foster raising concerns of excessive force in what many consider a minor infraction. Powers stated the rider refused to provide identification and used offensive language toward the officer, who he claimed remained calm throughout the encounter.
Despite this, Powers acknowledged that the officer’s conduct is under review. “The enforcement of infractions like eating in restricted areas should never compromise our mission to provide safe, reliable, and clean public transportation,” he said, expressing regret over the situation.
The widely circulated 15-minute video shows the officer grabbing Foster’s backpack and telling him, “You’re detained. You’re not free to go.” When the officer cited the act of eating, Foster responded, “So what?” The situation escalated, with the officer eventually threatening arrest for resisting. The video ends with multiple officers handcuffing Foster and escorting him to another room.
BART later confirmed that Foster was cited but not arrested. “He was issued a citation for violating a state law prohibiting eating in the paid areas. He was not taken into custody,” BART said on its official Twitter account. The officer involved has since been demoted to a lower position within the department.
The general manager of Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) issued a public apology on Monday to a man who was handcuffed and detained by a police officer last week for eating a sandwich on a train platform—an incident caught on camera that quickly went viral and sparked a protest.
The incident has reignited discussions around civil rights violations and police overreach in public transportation systems. By Monday evening, the video had racked up more than 3 million views on Facebook, prompting a weekend protest at the same train station. Dubbed the “lunch protest,” dozens of activists showed up on the platform openly eating sandwiches in solidarity.
Among the demonstrators was Janice Li, a BART board director, who, while refraining from commenting directly on Foster’s case, criticized the broader implications of how resources are allocated. “Enforcing eating and drinking bans isn’t the answer to fixing BART,” Li tweeted. “We’ve got much bigger issues to focus on—like reliability, affordability, and safety.”
Foster, speaking with ABC7 News, rejected BART’s apology and hinted at potential legal action. “The narrative was flipped to make me look like the aggressor. At this point, we’re beyond apologies,” he said.
The controversy comes at a time when other transit systems, like New York City’s subway, are under fire for aggressive enforcement tactics. Videos of confrontations between police and subway passengers, including one where a woman was handcuffed for selling churros, have led to public outcry and protests. In response, civil rights advocates are demanding stronger oversight and a re-evaluation of how public transportation systems handle minor rule violations.
As the conversation around racial equity, police conduct, and public safety continues to grow, incidents like the BART sandwich citation are becoming lightning rods for larger systemic issues—raising serious questions about proportionality, accountability, and the role of law enforcement in everyday life.