Protesters in San Francisco Block Apple’s Private Shuttle Bus

The San Francisco Bay Guardian reports, on Friday, December 20 between 70 and 100 protesters gathered at 24th and Valencia streets to block yet another private tech shuttle. The activists from Eviction Free San Francisco, Causa Justa, and others, stood in front of a shuttle bus, going to “Main Campus Ridgeview” which gave a hint it was operated by Apple, with signs that had “Evicted” written across them.

The protesters gathered around the bus and chanted, “What do we want? No Eviction!” and, “Get off the bus! Join us!”  One of the protesters said, “What we are against is eviction. What we are against is the Ellis Act. We want the ruling class – which is becoming the tech class – to listen to our voices.” A few people were spotted taking pictures within the bus using iPhones.

Patricia Kerman, who is facing an Ellis Act eviction from her apartment of 27 years at 20th and Folsom streets in the Mission, was among the speakers who shared personal stories during the blockade, which lasted around twenty minutes or so. She told the Bay Guardian that she is a senior on disability, with a “very low fixed income,” and has had no luck finding alternative housing since she received an eviction notice. “He doesn’t understand that a roof over my head is more important than money in my pocket,” she said, referring to her landlord.

This wasn’t the first occurrence of protesters blocking a private tech shuttle. On Friday, a Google shuttle was also blocked at MacArthur BART station at 7:45am in Oakland. The Guardian asked several protesters if there was any coordination between the two events, they said no.

At the San Francisco protest, police showed up asking the protesters to move onto the sidewalk. The Apple bus departed and protesters concluded without any incidents.

Here is a video of the protest, courtesy of the Guardian: