San Francisco subway system BART thought that cutting off cell phone signals last week would help it avoid trouble with protesters. Instead, it re-inflamed demonstrations and brought in the feds to boot.

The Federal Communications Commission said today it is collecting information about BART's decision to shut down four different downtown stations Thursday to try and thwart a protest at one of them over a recent BART police shooting. "Anytime communications services are interrupted, we seek to assess the situation," a commission staffer wrote.

Meanwhile BART might be giving the FCC more to investigate. BART baiting hacker group Anonymous is planning a 5pm protest at a BART station, and the transit authority said it might shut down cell phone service as well as the station itself. Riders "don't have the right to free speech inside the fare gates," a spokesman told the San Francisco Chronicle. Sure, why not escalate the situation, again, BART? That seems to be going well.

[Photo via AP]