police incident 11/3 demo

Last night at the foot of the 24th Street BART station stairs, we (four of us ranging in age from late fifties to late seventies and looking, in demeanor and physical capacity, the opposite of intimidating) were told that we could enter the station only if we "threw away" our protest signs (handmade signs that had obviously taken some time and effort to make). Then the police decided that my sign was OK (after I showed deference by tucking it away into an artist's portfolio) but that another sign (a lightweight placard attached to a short length of white plastic PVC pipe carried by a 75-year-old man) was not. We left and walked to the 16th Street BART.

We had some questions and discussion as to whether this incident represented harshening of police attitudes (maybe in the wake of the election) or reaction to some specific event that we hadn't witnessed. This occurred sometime after 8:00; I can pinpoint the time because we started down the BART stairs just as something (I guess the George Bush effigy) burst into flames across the street. Any thoughts?