Republicans And Their Entitlement!

Examples of how Republicans treat people of color. This gay Republican berates a Black Lyft driver last year.

This is an example of entitlement.

Last year, a Lyft driver was belittled by a gay Republican who used his entitlement as an excuse to verbal and physically assault him.



Shawn Pepas Lettman, a driver for Lyft, posted a 16-minute video of the incident, which occurred in New York City, on Facebook. Lettman began recording after the initial argument occurred; he had already pulled over to the side of the road.

When the video began, the passenger, identified as Robert Ortiz, was sitting in the back seat with two other men as he spoke with an emergency dispatcher on the phone. Throughout the video, Ortiz stated that he was being charged $8.01 and had no plans of leaving until the situation was resolved.

“I feel racially profiled ... because I'm not black,” Ortiz told the dispatcher. “I don't want to hang up with you for my safety.”

After a few minutes, the two other men in the car asked if Lettman refused to change the music because they were gay. "He knows he's fucked up," one of the passengers said in reference to Lettman.

"I'm gonna make sure while you're recording this that you never have a job as a Lyft driver ever again," Ortiz told Lettman. "I'm going to make sure that you never have a job as a fucking driver again. You piece of shit."

Ortiz also called Lyft and claimed that Lettman wouldn't acquiesce to his music request because he didn't appear to be black.

"I'm not being racist, your gentleman is being racist," Ortiz told the person on the other end of the line. "I came out of a gay club, and your driver is racist against gay people."

Ortiz repeatedly threatened Lyft with a lawsuit and said he would not get out of the vehicle until he was reimbursed for his ride. He added that he intended to wait for the police to arrive so he could file a report.

"I'm telling you that I called the police to protect myself because I know my legal rights as an American citizen … an American citizen that voted for Trump," Ortiz told the Lyft employee.

Following the incident, Lyft told Newsweek that both Ortiz and Lettman's accounts had been deactivated until an investigation could be conducted. After a review of accounts from all sides, Lyft reactivated Lettman's account and permanently disabled Ortiz's.

"The behavior exhibited in the video is deeply concerning. Lyft is committed to maintaining an inclusive and welcoming community and discriminatory behavior is unacceptable," Lyft stated. "We have also reached out to Mr. Lettman to express our support."

Viewers applauded Lettman for remaining calm during the altercation, and he wrote on a GoFundMe page that his mother taught him that "patience, humble and calm will get you through anything."

He said that after the recording ended, he also called the police to express his own concerns over what might have happened if he hadn't been assisted.

"I know America is better than this and despite the hate we have to deal with from a few, my heart tells me, the world is mostly good," Lettman wrote.