D.C. police are investigating the Sunday morning assault of a rabbi by a ride-share driver who allegedly demanded the rabbi get out of the car moments after picking him up.
Lyft said the driver has been suspended over the incident, which occurred around 10:15 a.m.
Rabbi Menachem Shemtov, director of Chabad Georgetown, said he summoned a Lyft outside the D.C. headquarters of Chabad Lubavitch and rode less than a block on Connecticut Avenue Northwest when the driver ordered him out.
“He told me that he doesn’t like my energy, or the energy of people like me, and it’s making him feel uncomfortable,” Shemtov said.
D.C. police said the driver, complaining that the rabbi had slammed the car door, also got out of the car and confronted Shemtov.
“I told him, ‘Get away from me. Don’t touch me. Don’t hit me,'” Shemtov said. “He proceeded to punch me right in my face, knocked off my yarmulke and was blocking me from getting it.”
After being struck, Shemtov said he tried to stop the Lyft driver from leaving the scene. Shemtov said that’s when he was struck again.
“He tried to get into the vehicle and slammed the door into me, and then started hitting me again, thrashing and slashing with his keys and with his hands and his fists,” he told WTOP.
D.C. police interviewed witnesses who gave police cellphone video of the confrontation, which happened on Connecticut Avenue near T Street Northwest.
“I would like this man to be put behind bars and a message to be sent to people that are thinking about doing the same, that you just cannot use violence and attack people because you don’t like them. And especially violence within the Jewish community … I’m a rabbi, I preach peace, I preach compassion, I preach that people should get along with one another and the fact that I then get attacked, and people see that happening, it’s important that he’s held accountable,” said Shemtov.
“Lyft unequivocally condemns this behavior,” a spokesperson for the ride-share company said in a written statement. “Upon learning of this incident, we deactivated the driver and we’ve been in touch with the rider. We encourage riders and drivers to report harassment, discrimination, or safety concerns in the Lyft app.”
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