ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A rideshare driver says they were assaulted by passengers picked up in Alexandria, Va. after the riders started asking about the driver's use of the pronouns they/them.
"The passenger people ask me my name, and my country. I respond," says Yasmani Gurri about the interaction they had with the three men that got into the SUV last Saturday night just before midnight. Gurri described the men as bearded and appeared to be intoxicated.
Gurri says they started interrogating them about the use of the pronouns they/them clearly marked on their Lyft account profile. After explaining to the riders that they used the terms because they did not identify with the genders male and female. Gurri says they started referring to them as a woman and that the man seated directly behind the driver's seat hit the driver on top of the head with a beer bottle.
"I think that's a homophobic reaction," says Gurri.
Gurri says they asked the men to stop, but that the same man hit them a second time in the ribs while they were driving. The driver says they were only a minute away from their final destination so they proceeded to drop the men off at a hotel on the 4800 block of Leesburg Pike in Alexandria, Virginia.
"They put my life in danger. Thank God nothing happened, but there could have been traffic, I could have crashed and I would not be telling this story," said Gurri in his native Spanish to WUSA9.
While attempting to call the police to report the incident, Gurri says that a fourth man came towards the SUV and threw a $100 bill into his car, telling them to not report the incident.
While cleaning their SUV, Gurri found the beer bottle that was used to hit them in the head. They have saved the bottle and have filed a police report with Alexandria City police.
"I want them to be criminally charged," says Gurri who has completed more than 1,500 rides and has a five-star rating on Lyft. For now, they have decided to quit driving for the ridesharing app because of growing safety concerns.
Gurri is currently working to get Lyft to disclose the name associated with the account so that the suspects can be identified. They are concerned that because the men were staying at the Alexandria hotel, they may be from out of town and that the riders will not face consequences for the alleged attack.