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Iraqi refugee ride-share driver berated and threatened because of long drive-thru line

The woman yelled, “This is America. Welcome!”
Threats vid

The FOX 8 I TEAM has obtained exclusive video showing threats and ethnic taunts aimed at a man driving in Cleveland for a ride-sharing service.

The incident happened last month along West 150th, and the driver and his attorney are planning to go to a city prosecutor seeking criminal charges.

A cell phone camera rolled as a woman shouted, “Send this to your (expletive) friends in Jihad!” She added, “I’ll (expletive) kill you.” And, “Bury you before anyone knows that you’re gone.”

A police report shows it started when the woman and a male companion got really mad because the driver pulled into a parking spot at a fast food restaurant. The driver thought the drive-thru line was too long. The report shows the passengers slammed car doors, slammed fists on the hood, and the driver says he even got punched in the chest.

The driver is Ahmed Al Zubaidi. His lawyer says Al Zubaidi is an Iraqi refugee who’s been in the U.S. for 4 years. Attorney Ali Mustafa said, “He already has a job, a day job. This is his moonlighting. Mustafa says those passengers appeared to be drunk, but that doesn’t excuse what was said.

Mustafa added, "We all understand that there are issues out there in the world that cause people to have a different view at a class, or a majority of different people, with rightful reason, because of what is going on in the world. But here in Cleveland, we don't have that. People get along with each other.”

The woman, in her tirade, also yelled, “This is America. Welcome!” We left a message for her.

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