Muslim cab driver shot in Pittsburgh ‘hate crime’

A Muslim cab driver was shot in Pittsburgh on Thanksgiving in what the victim and the leaders of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh are calling a hate crime, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. 

The driver, a 38-year-old Moroccan immigrant who has asked to remain annonymous, said he picked up a man outside the River Casino around 1 a.m. on Thanksgiving.

During the drive to the passenger's residence, he began asking the driver about his background. He said the passenger asked questions like,"You seem to be like a Pakistani guy, are you from Pakistan?"

The driver responded by informing him that he was from Morocco, but "is an American guy."

"He began to speak about ISIS killing people and I told him actually, I’m against ISIS. I don’t like them," the cab driver said. After that, the driver said the man started to satirize Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam. 

At the passenger's residence, he said the man asked him to wait because he had forgotten his wallet inside his home. When he returned, the cab driver said the man was carrying a rifle. 

"I noticed him coming toward me and I didn’t hesitate. I [made] a fast decision to leave and drove my taxi away because I felt he was going to do something. There is danger. He would shoot me or something. I felt like he had the intention to kill me,” he said.

As the taxi sped away, he said the man fired a couple of gunshots at the cab, one of which shattered the back window of the car and struck the driver between his shoulder blades. 

Pittsburgh police have not determined whether the incident was motivated by the driver's race or religion. The FBI is also investigating the shooting.  Greg Heeb, spokesman for the bureau's Pittsburgh branch said, "all I can really say is that we evaluate all crimes that appear to be racially motivated.”

The cab driver remains in the hospital in critical condition. 

Contact Caitlin Lilly at clilly@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @caitiesmith