EAST MOLINE, Ill. — An East Moline bus driver has been caught on camera allegedly verbally and physically abusing a boy with autism.
Zamari Jones is a second grader at Wells Elementary in East Moline. On March 21, his mom dropped him off on the bus, and then things went south.
Surveillance video shows the driver stopping the bus, getting in Zamari's face, yelling at him, and then hitting his arm away. Zamari was tapping his feet and stimming, which is when people with autism engage in behaviors for self-stimulation, often manifesting as repetitive physical movements.
Chynna Jones, Zamari's mom, is now speaking out publicly.
"For him, stimming is so essential, for us it's like breathing," Jones said. "He's just a little kid. He's just the goofy, sweet, innocent child."
While on the bus, there is a monitor that sits across the aisle from Zamari. However, the monitor wasn't the one that reported the incident. That was done by a fellow student who was also on the bus.
"I would get in trouble for putting my hands on my own child, so what makes you think it's ok to put your hands on him," Jones said. "The adults should have reported it and they didn't. So for a second grader to know better than an adult is what really hurts," she added.
As the bus arrives at the school, the driver sits next to Zamari for four minutes, allowing every other kid to get off before him.
"Autism isn't going away," she said, sharing a message with the wider community. "If it takes to retrain this whole village, then retrain this whole village because these kids aren't going anywhere, these kids are going to be us."
The bus driver is on leave while the incident is under investigation. Chynna said she is very happy with how Wells Elementary is handling the situation, saying they have been transparent and proactive the entire time.
East Moline School District #37 released a statement, saying in part, "We cannot respond directly regarding matters that relate to individual students or specific employees of the school district for privacy reasons. However, we take every report seriously and investigate such reports to the fullest."
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