Group of attorneys requires civil rights evaluation of MBTA in letter to Transportation Secretary Peter Buttigieg

Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg is pressured to investigate why the MBTA closed several stations and stranded hundreds last spring after a protest against Black Lives Matter, which later turned violent.

A group of Boston attorneys posted a letter Tuesday to Buttigieg and the Federal Transit Administration requesting an “immediate compliance check” with the T.

Civil Rights Lawyers specifically urged the FTA to immediately review whether the T complies with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits any agency receiving federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin. Many of those stranded were minorities.

The application came after lawyers’ years of investigating the MBTA’s policies and procedures as to when it could lawfully shut down public transport.

“It was quite shocking to learn that the MBTA lacks written guidelines and instructions detailing when it is lawful and appropriate to stop transportation at stations other than for weather and maintenance,” said Nina Garcia, one the authors of the letter.

She added, “The fact that stations closed following this major protest against Black Lives Matter really suggests that this overreaction was based on the race and identity of the protesters and their affiliation with Black Lives Matter.”

The May 31, 2020 rally took a violent turn when shops were ransacked, a Boston police cruiser was set on fire, and an officer was even shot at. The Army National Guard was called in to keep the peace and stayed downtown for a week.

In a statement on Tuesday, MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said: That night, “in coordination with local officials and law enforcement agencies, a decision was made to close some stations when the transit police incident commander believed there was outside activity.” a danger to the safe operation of the station and the transit activity. “

He added that the near-riot posed “significant risks to drivers, T-staff and critical T-assets”.

However, civil rights lawyers argued that closing several key stations rather than protecting people will only put them at risk.

“Rather than ensuring the safety of the peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters,” the letter said, “the unnecessary shutdowns put vulnerable protesters and other transit addicts at risk who were forced to navigate the heavy police presence on foot.”

Erin Tiernan contributed to this report.