True. But if the acronym BATR used in the article is a typo for BART, it makes no sense at all that BART authorities have the capability of shutting off cell towers, and that they used this capability in response to a public protest. I tried to find an article about the original incident in which cell towers were shut down, but can’t find anything. Color me mystified.
The incident was about a planned disruption of BART services in BART stations. Their statement includes this:
Cell phone service was not interrupted outside BART stations. In addition, numerous BART Police officers and other BART personnel with radios were present during the planned protest, and train intercoms and white courtesy telephones remained available for customers seeking assistance or reporting suspicious activity.
If the FCC grants local police agencies the authority to shut off cell towers as a result of this incident, I'd predict rampant abuse of that authority.
The BART incident is a totally different issue which I support without reservation. They simply disabled cell reception within the tunnel system to disarm flash mobs bent on destruction, disruption and mayhem.