Lyft passenger mocks Hispanic driver with racist jibes after told to wear face mask: 'You're a f**king wetback'
A Lyft passenger was seen going on a racist rant after he was told to wear a mask. The passenger - a white man - refused to leave the car even when asked to do so and made fun of the Hispanic driver's accent and threatened to physically assault him.
The incident took place on May 28 and the was recorded on a camera placed inside the car. As soon as the passenger, named Richard, got into the car, the driver asked him if he had a face mask with him - as CDC guidelines tells people to cover their nose and mouths with some form of face-covering during the pandemic. Richard replied that he did not, after which the driver politely asked him if he could cover his face with his shirt. Although the rider agreed to do it, he ended up placing a hand on over his mouth instead. The conversation initially seemed normal enough.
Richard: "Do you believe in that s**t?"
Driver: "Yes, I do. I have family that is sick of that.
Richard: "Well I don't believe in our government so..."
Driver: "Well it's not the government. There is (sic) people that is (sic) getting sick."
Richard: "Okay. I'm sorry I don't have a mask. I've never heard of someone asking for a mask."
Driver: "Well it's because we are really close like in the car..."
However, things take a sudden turn when Richard enquires about the route that the driver was taking as it would take longer to reach his home. The driver says he can take the shorter route if Richard prefers to which the latter sarcastically says that it would be better for the driver as he did not want to ride with someone without a mask for long. "I don't like you" declares Richard, to which the driver says, "You don't like me? You wanna get out?"
Richard says that he will not get out of the car till the driver had dropped him at the destination as he had a "contract" with Lyft, according to which he was entitled to a full ride. Instead, he will write the driver a "sh***y review." The driver stops the car and again insists to Richard to get out. "I am not getting out right now. I have got a contract with you. I have got a ride with you... The contract does not end. I told you I don't like your standards. I'm entitled to free speech. You cannot cancel the contract for that," he says.
He proceeds to insult him further by calling him a "candy a** f****t in white glasses" adding, "I can just f**king crush your f**king skull right now." At this point, the driver informs Richard that he was being recorded and if he did not get out of the car, he would have to call the cops.
Even as Richard reluctantly got out of the car, he took a few demeaning racist jibes at the driver. "Get out of your car? How about a please, boy?" he said to which the driver once again reminded him that if he wants to lodge a complaint with Lyft for not dropping him to his destination, he can go ahead and do it because he had video proof of the incident. Richard then makes fun of his accent. "You have 'bideo'? You ever take English class? I got 'bideo'?
The driver responds with "You ever take morals class?" Richard says that he cannot understand what the driver was saying because he was not speaking proper English. He then asks him where he was from. The driver replies that he was from the same place Richard was, to which the rider says that's not possible because "You're a f**king wetback." When asked where Richard was from, he says that he was "an American, motherf**ker" and that he had fought in multiple wars in the past. After the driver ends the trip instead of canceling it, Richard asks him if it was fair, and would it be considered fair in "your country."