Beverly Hills students ask Trump for help stopping Purple Line

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (KABC) -- Hundreds of Beverly Hills students walked out of class Friday to protest a planned underground Metro tunnel and ask President Donald Trump to stop funding for the project.

Metro is planning a multibillion dollar Purple Line extension that would expand the subway nine miles from Wilshire/Western to Westwood. To build the project, the transportation agency will have to tunnel under Beverly Hills High School and other areas of the city.

Hundreds of students along with teachers and other officials from five Beverly Hills public schools protested near a mansion owned by Trump. They are asking him to shut off federal funding for the project.

The Beverly Hills Unified School District has an active lawsuit trying to stop the extension.

Opponents claim the tunneling poses a danger to the school and community and could release potentially toxic gases.

"Mr. President, you love our country, you love our children, you love America's children," said BHUSD board member Lisa Korbatov. "Please rescue my children, these children. They need your intervention. Your home is less than half a mile away from this potential cataclysmic disaster site. And Metro is not telling the truth."

Metro spokesman Dave Sotero said the project has been thoroughly studied and will be safe.

"We would not build a project that would jeopardize the safety of the public let alone the students of Beverly Hills High School," Sotero said. "We've done our due diligence in studying this project and the mitigations for this project for five years."

The federal government has already put $1.5 billion into the project and Metro is seeking $1 billion more.