WASHINGTON -- At first, D.C. Metro considered separate train cars to keep Unite the Right protesters safe.
But on August 6th, after outrage from the public and Metro transit union local 689, D.C. Metro assured the public and issued a statement saying, "it is not preparing a special train for the private use of any group."
But on Sunday, it appears D.C. Metro did not follow through on its word.
WMATA temporarily chained off the North Entrance of the Vienna Metro Station with a police barricade as the Unite the Right participants entered the station. They were allowed to get on a separate train with a few accompanying journalists.
Today, At-Large Councilmember Robert White said he tried to get clarification from D.C. Metro’s General Manager Paul Wiedefeld about what happened.
"Mr. Wiedefeld clarified that for strategic reasons they wanted to maintain a buffer between the unit the right protesters and the general public. I told him from my perspective it was very clear ahead of time that metro said there would be no dedicated train cars. And that is essentially where we had to leave the conversation."
In a statement issued Sunday, ATU Local 689 said, "the public was lied to by WMATA General Manager Paul Wiedefeld." It is calling for the General Manager’s termination.
During a press conference Sunday, Mayor Muriel Bowser did not answer questions about the incident. "I can’t really talk about metro operations," she said.
White said the District was successful at guaranteeing everyone’s first amendment rights and avoiding potentially expensive lawsuits.
"The slightest on the part of any of these agencies could have resulted in major lawsuits, that really could have cost us a lot of money, and that money would have gone into the piggy bank of a group, we really want to have nothing to do with," said White.
RELATED: 'People were too scared' | Unite the Right attendees vastly outnumbered by counter-protesters
White expects the WMATA General Manager to give a fuller statement about what happened in the coming days.
"We have to get to the bottom of it. We have to make sure this doesn’t happen again. But I do want to make sure right now, as it stands, this Unite the Right group left the jurisdiction with zero wins. And I want to make sure they stay at zero.," said White.
