Last week, a group of African-American interns were denied a ride by an Uber driver because two of them were carrying President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” hats. Now, one of them plans to take legal action against Uber.
The group was made up of Capitol Hill interns all enrolled in the Rocky Mountain Black Conservatives program designed for black conservatives interning on Capitol Hill, founded by Derrick Wilburn. They were attempting to travel from George Washington University to the Trump International Hotel in Washington.
The Uber driver asked about the hats and then told the group that they were not welcome in his vehicle.
“I’m a black male in America that supports and voted for Donald Trump,” said Matthew Handy, one of the passengers, to Fox News. “We’re supposed to be a country that accepts everybody for who they are, a melting pot, but the moment I say or do something that doesn’t coincide with their political beliefs, I’m the bad guy.”
Handy claims Uber has been unhelpful in addressing his concerns; he stated he wants “action now.”
When speaking to Uber, Handy claims an Uber representative named Erik asked for a summary of what happened and told Handy that Uber has not yet reached out to the Uber driver that denied him service.
Handy made it clear in a statement to The Daily Wire that he does not plan on using Uber again and does not want free rides, but wants action taken against the driver. He asserted, “I informed him that I wanted the driver fired, an official release statement indicating that the gentleman had been fired, a letter of apology from Uber.”
Uber told Handy that they cannot guarantee action but would investigate the issue.
“They do not seem to be taking this serious, but I plan to sue,” Handy said. “They have had almost a week to address this, but rather run in circles.”
The incident has caught the eye of many prominent conservatives, including Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, who invited some of the interns on her show, and Allan West, who penned an Op-Ed in about the incident.
“What happened is this: they were guilty of the greatest sin, according to the progressive, socialist left – political apostasy,” West wrote. “They were black, but not liberal progressives, not Democrats, and they had the abject nerve to openly profess such. … There will be no outrage from the Congressional Black Caucus, you know, the folks who claim to be the ‘conscience of the Congress.’ The NAACP, nor the National Urban League, has, to this point, made any statement condemning Uber and demanding an apology. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have not commenced any protests outside of Uber offices. Nor has Black Lives Matter been seen. This is just another manifestation of what Maxine Waters has called for, this time against three young, black congressional interns.”
“It’s a shame that in our nation’s capital, not even blacks who support President Trump are exempt from the display of prejudice and intolerance that has been encouraged by leading Democrats like Maxine Waters and others in the anti-Trump resistance.” Diante Johnson, the President of the Black Conservative Federation told The Daily Wire in a statement.
This story is ongoing and will be updated as more information is made available.
Correction: This article has been corrected to note that two of the interns were carrying the hats, not wearing them.