We would like to sincerely thank everyone who has offered their stories, thoughts and support in this matter. We were honestly expecting maybe half a dozen people to show up tomorrow, but now we think that it's going to be a lot bigger, which is awesome. This story seems to have really touched a nerve! We notified local press and relevant city agencies through an official press release [PDF] yesterday. Once again, it's tomorrow, Saturday, at noon. Please assemble quietly at the Embarcadero Station Muni Fare Gate. We'll be catching a train at 12:30, and finishing around 2:00 at the Castro station if you miss us.

We were contacted by Tony through the comments to our original post, who describes yet another instance of being hassled by Muni authorities back in October for taking pictures, both in the public areas and in the paid areas. When he asked Muni for clarification, General Manager Fred Stevens [PDF] and Sergeant Robinson Oguike [PDF] of the Transit Security office both responded. Mr. Oguike says to contact Maggie Lynch for permission, which is what Ms. Lynch told us herself. Mr. Stevens, on the other hand, offers different information:

Any individual that wants to take photographs inside a MUNI or BART station must first secure the appropriate permits from the City and County of San Francisco, due to security considerations. In the future, please call MUNI's Public Relations department at 415 934-3925, and they will send you the appropriate documentation to submit.

So somewhere, out there, documents may actually exist that detail the rules, and there may even be permits available -- although Maggie Lynch didn't mention permits, only saying that the station agents would be notified or she would have someone accompany the photographer. We still get the feeling that this is simply a decision that has been made, without public input, and that it is being enforced, but in a selective way, since other photographers say they have never been stopped or questioned -- as Derek over at Ephemera points out, "I've been taking photos on the subway here for 10 years and never heard a peep." All we want is a straight answer and a chance to challenge any written ban in court. After the jump, our legal eagle SFist Rita has some tips on dealing with the cops.

Update: We have a response from Michael Burns, Muni Executive Director which we're just going to link to here and discuss tomorrow at the event. There will be a full recap on Monday.

Photo of Muni Platform uploaded to Flickr on February 17th by drain.