Source: Palm Tran / Screencap
A Black bus driver lost his job in Florida, but it will be painfully clear to some that he wasn’t totally in the wrong. In West Palm Beach, a Palm Tran driver warned a white passenger to stop calling him the N-Word slur but matters escalated to the fade administration level when the man spat on the driver.
Local outlet CBS12 reports:
The incident, which was caught on bus surveillance cameras, happened on a Palm Tran bus on a Sunday afternoon May 13. It began as a dispute over the bus fare.
There were only a handful of people on the bus, including a passenger who was very loud.
The passenger, who is white, used insulting racially-offensive language, taunting the bus driver who is black.
According to the bus drivers’ union, this taunting went on for about 15 minutes, with the passenger standing in the aisle, calling the driver the “N” word and spewing threatening and derogatory remarks at the driver.
The driver warned the passenger to stop it.
“You call me n— one more time! You call me n—– one more time and I’m gonna (inaudible) your (expletive)!” shouted the Palm Tran bus driver.
The outlet adds the unnamed driver unleashed a seven-piece meal of punches, no biscuits, and had the n-word slinging gentleman getting laid down like carpet.
The driver was fired and news of the matter was made public on Aug. 6. The driver’s union is defending the actions, calling them self-defense. The union may challenge the firing.
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Photo: Palm Tran
