Hate on the bus: homophobic driver suspended

The National Transportation Regulatory Commission (CNRT) confirmed to Presentes that driver Leonardo Benítez was suspended for 30 days today while an investigation is conducted. The suspension is not for discrimination but for "offending a passenger" and was carried out after the intervention of the Ombudsman's Office of the City of Buenos Aires. Benítez resigned after the announcement.

She experienced an assault by a bus driver that gained public attention this week and was reported to the authorities. The National Transportation Regulatory Commission (CNRT) confirmed to Presentes that the driver, Leonardo Benítez, was suspended for 30 days while an investigation is conducted. The suspension is not for discrimination but for "offending a passenger" and was carried out after the intervention of the Ombudsman's Office of the City of Buenos Aires.

[READ ALSO: A driver refused to let a gay man ride: “I’d rather go to jail than give a ride to someone like that”]
“In light of the events that occurred last Saturday on bus number 3004 of line 168, which are public knowledge, the CNRT (National Transportation Regulatory Commission) has suspended the national license of the driver involved and issued a violation notice to the company EXPRESO SAN ISIDRO SACI. The applicable regulation is CNRT Resolution 28 of 2016 – Section I, considering the driver's conduct an act of offense against the passenger,” the statement reads. Early Saturday morning, the bus driver refused to let Emanuel board, calling him “faggot, disabled,” among other insults, when Emanuel told him he had forgotten his ID. Emanuel lives with an illness and requires ongoing treatment.

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When the passengers showed solidarity with the 26-year-old man and refused to let him off the bus, the driver locked the doors for forty minutes, preventing anyone from disembarking. He only started moving again when the police arrived. The passengers recorded the incident with photos and videos. “Thanks to the release of the video, which provides irrefutable proof that the driver detained all the passengers, we were able to act on our own initiative; otherwise, we would have had to wait for him to file a complaint here and present evidence,” Julia Devoto, head of press for the CNRT (National Transportation Regulatory Commission), told Presentes.
[READ ALSO: #HateCrimes2017 Drastic increase in street attacks in Argentina]
After Emanuel posted a statement on his Facebook page and filed the corresponding complaints with the Ombudsman's Office of the City of Buenos Aires and the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI), the assault became public and reached several media outlets. Emanuel told Presentes that he hesitated before making the situation public. “At first I thought that if I did something I could harm a family, because he surely has one, but he repeated so many times, 'Just like I take down so many people here –in the Plop gay party area– do you think I won't take you down?', so if I don't do something this situation will continue to repeat itself.”

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