Washington, D.C.’s Metro is no longer considering separate trains for protesters attending the white nationalist “Unite the Right” rally on Aug. 12.
“Metro will not be providing a special train or special car for anyone next Sunday,” Metro Board Chairman Jack Evans told The Washington Post on Saturday.
Reports emerged last week that Metro officials were considering providing separate trains for those attending the “white civil rights” rally, citing safety concerns.
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Metro’s largest union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, told a local NBC affiliate that this would amount to “giving special accommodation to hate groups and hate speech.”
A number of groups condemned Metro’s proposal, pointing out that other Washington protesters have rarely received comparable protection.
The upcoming rally, which will be held near the White House, is being organized by the same group of white nationalists who planned last year’s deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va.
The violent Charlottesville protest became fatal when a protester drove a car into a group of counterprotesters, killing local resident Heather Heyer and injuring more than a dozen others.
“We’re not trying to give anyone special treatment,” Evans said last week. “We’re just trying to avoid scuffles and things of that nature.”
“If we did nothing and there were clashes and people were hurt or killed, you’d be all over us,” he added.
The rally will take place on the anniversary of the Charlottesville protests.