Bus cancellations derail travel plans for some March on Washington participants from Chicago
Charter buses scheduled to take participants from Indiana to the nation's capital were canceled
CHICAGO (WLS) -- A group of Chicago teenagers was among those unable to attend the March on Washington after charter buses scheduled to take participants from Indiana to the nation's capital were canceled, leaving riders with less than a two-hour notice before departure.
Five teenagers gathered Friday at the Bridgeport offices of I Am a Gentleman Chicago, their bags packed but their trip to Washington, D.C. derailed.
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"When we arrived there, the bus wasn't there," said Jaren Johnson of I Am a Gentleman. "I thought we were early. I thought we were late."
The teens and their chaperones had planned to attend the March on Washington, where thousands gathered Friday on the National Mall on the 63rd anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
The buses had been chartered by the National Action Network, one of the organizers of the march. In a statement, the organization's Indiana chapter attributed the cancellations to a permitting issue affecting multiple states.
"We were informed that the necessary bus permits were not granted for buses traveling from Indiana, as well as buses originating from a few other states," the statement said. "This was an unexpected development and was outside of the control of NAN Indiana, our bus captains and the National Action Network."
Jermaine Lawrence Anderson, executive director of I Am a Gentleman, said the late notice was unacceptable.
"You do not communicate a national breakdown less than two hours before departure time," Anderson said.
The disruption was not limited to Indiana. The National Action Network's Chicago chapter also lost its four charter buses. Unlike the Indiana travelers, however, the Chicago group was able to reach Washington after making last-minute arrangements for alternate transportation.
It remains unclear what permits were not granted or who was responsible for issuing them. The National Action Network had not provided additional information, and calls seeking clarification had not been returned.
