TUKWILA, Wash. — A photo taken outside a King County Metro Transit maintenance facility more than two weeks ago has employees scared and searching for answers.
An employee says the picture of a statue of a Black person next to what he believes is a noose, was his breaking point.
He says other employees are too scared to speak up, so he's risking his job in order to spark change.
"I am so sick and tired of the gaslighting, 'Oh, there's no racism. Oh no, that's not racist.' 'I don't see...' Like nobody sees the same truth," said Adam Carlos Arriaga, a King County Metro bus mechanic.
Arriaga posted this picture on Twitter on Monday. It's a picture he didn't take, but felt compelled to share.
King County Metro responded to his tweet on Monday saying, "We take this very seriously and are conducting a formal investigation. Everyone deserves to feel safe and welcome at work."
Arriaga says he had to step up when he saw the photo, which was taken at the King County Metro South Facility Maintenance Building.
"I am not an eyewitness. However, the witnesses are very afraid to come forward," Arriaga said.
Arriaga says many of his coworkers, mostly people of color, were fearful of retaliation if they made any noise about the picture.
Arriaga says he didn't want this to get swept under the rug and that this incident speaks to a larger issue at King County Metro.
"So, if like a guy's angry and the N-word slips out. 'Hey, you know, don't worry about that, that's just such-and-such, he's just mad, he didn't mean nothing by it,'" Arriaga said. "You know you hear stuff like that all the time and if you say something you become a target and your job becomes miserable. So that is why I spoke up," Arriaga said.
In response to a request for information about the incident, King County Metro sent this statement to KING 5:
On June 2, Metro discovered and promptly removed a statue that was left at a flagpole at Metro’s South Facilities Maintenance Building. The statue was of a person of color – and because of its position near a flagpole – it could be interpreted as a racist symbol and form of harassment, neither of which Metro will tolerate under any terms.
For clarification, the statue was never hanging or otherwise attached to the flagpole. The cord in the image is in the background and connected only to the cleat of the flagpole where the flag is raised.
An investigation is currently active and underway with Metro’s Equal Employment Opportunity/Equity & Inclusion team. Metro is also working closely with our Transit Employee Labor Relations group.
We are sharing the above information with all employees within our Facilities Division to be transparent and to reaffirm the steps we are taking to provide a safe, welcoming environment for our employees. We are committed to ensuring that our work environment is free from discrimination.
While it’s not clear what the intention is behind the placement of this statue, it is an unacceptable action that significantly and negatively impacted a number of our colleagues. We’ve reminded employees of the resources available to anyone who believes they have been discriminated against or believes they have witnessed any form of harassment.
Arriaga says significant cultural and systemic changes need to be made within his labor union and King County Metro itself.
"I would like to see the union actually be a union that is an advocate for everybody equally and to take racist incidences seriously," said Arriaga.
Arriaga says employees plan to protest in front of the Tukwila facility next week.