On Tuesday, city transportation officials hosted a Muni safety roundtable after a man was arrested and charged for allegedly throwing eggs and yelling racial slurs while riding a Muni bus.
Jeffrey Tumlin, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency director of transportation said, "We're here today to make it clear that all crimes on Muni are unacceptable.”
SFMTA chief security officer Kimberly Burrus said the agency is in a "season of accountability" -- when "unscrupulous" cases of harassment and violence occur on Muni, that is the time when the agency will double down on its intolerance for crime.
Burrus said Muni works closely with police to share video surveillance footage and information immediately after a crime has occurred on public transit. Every Muni bus is equipped with at least 11 security cameras, and each subway station has 60 to 100 cameras, she said.
Last week, prosecutors charged 44-year-old Joseph Benjamin for hate crimes and battery after he allegedly attacked passengers and a bus driver in three separate incidents.
On Feb. 16th, Benjamin allegedly uttered racial slurs to an Asian woman while on a 38-Geary Muni bus. A bystander intervened, and the suspect threw an egg at him before running off the bus and throwing another egg at the vehicle, according to police.
During the investigation, police said they linked Benjamin to two other incidents on Muni buses.
