Black Dominican NYC cabbie suspended for wearing a Nazi armband to work

[pwaldo]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ing-fares.html

A Dominican New York City cab driver who proudly calls himself a Nazi and denies the Holocaust has been suspended for wearing a swastika arm band while working.

Gabriel Diaz, 27, says his rights to free speech were violated by the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) when they suspended his operator’s license Friday – barring him from getting behind the wheel.

‘If a Muslim can drive a cab wearing a turban, if a homosexual can walk around with a big rainbow flag, why can’t a person like me wear a Nazi armband?’ Diaz asked the New York Daily News.

'I’m a National Socialist – what you guys call a Nazi,' he told WCBS

‘I know it’s very controversial that a non-white is wearing a Nazi armband,’ he told the Daily News. ‘Whoever said you had to be white to be a National Socialist?’

He even denied the Holocaust to the Daily News.

‘We’ve been told lies about Hitler,’ he argued when asked about the deaths of 6million Jewish people. ‘We’ve been told lies about everything.’

But he then insisted to a New York Post photographer wearing a yarmulke that he doesn’t hate Jews.

‘Nothing against you people,’ he said. ‘I’m not anti-Semitic. Why don’t you tolerate my views?’

He repeated these claims to WCBS.

'I don’t hate Jews. I’m critical of them, but I don’t hate them. That doesn’t mean that I’m anti-Semitic. That don’t make me a hater.'

Diaz says people who see him on the street often hurl insults at him.

‘People would say ‘XXXX you Nazi!’, typical stuff, he told the New York Post.

But he insisted to the Post that his passengers have never said a word.

‘Their mind was somewhere else,’ he said. ‘They were focused on what they had to do.’

A woman who reported him to the TLC last month told the Post ‘I thought my eyes were deceiving me.

‘I tried to get closer and inch up when I realized it was exactly that,’ she continued. ‘I just felt like I had to document it because I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was shocking. I was very angry.’

But Diaz is undeterred and unapologetic.

‘If I have to apologize, then a homosexual has to apologize for being a homosexual, for being open and gay.’

[mrveggieman]

This guy is a complete idiot. I hope and pray that he dosen't have any offspring.

[GroundSupport]

‘If a Muslim can drive a cab wearing a turban, if a homosexual can walk around with a big rainbow flag, why can’t a person like me wear a Nazi armband?’ Diaz asked the New York Daily News.


He does make a valid point.

[shrewsbury]

apples and oranges

the Muslim is exercising their religious rights. The homosexual would not be allowed to work if they had on a shirt that said homosexuals rule / heterosexuals should die.

what normal job allows you to wear an advertisement of your personal political beliefs?

how about this, show up to work with a shirt that says I hate Obama because he is black and lmk how that works out for you.

not only is this person an idiot, but obviously a mislead idiot.

[sanfran22]

apples and oranges

the Muslim is exercising their religious rights. The homosexual would not be allowed to work if they had on a shirt that said homosexuals rule / heterosexuals should die.

what normal job allows you to wear an advertisement of your personal political beliefs?

how about this, show up to work with a shirt that says I hate Obama because he is black and lmk how that works out for you.

not only is this person an idiot, but obviously a mislead idiot.

I agree with you that the place of business would/should shut him down. But isn't this the city doing it? The city shouldn't have anything to do with it. But this is the same city that says you can only have 16oz pop, no transfats, salt ect... So I guess this makes sense in NYC.

[Star_Cards]

I'd get that his company would more than likely fire him for wearing such a shirt, but should his license be suspended? I can see his employer firing him or suspending him, but I'm not sure his license should be suspended.

[mrveggieman]

apples and oranges

the muslim is exercising their religious rights. The homosexual would not be allowed to work if they had on a shirt that said homosexuals rule / heterosexuals should die.

What normal job allows you to wear an advertisement of your personal political beliefs?

How about this, show up to work with a shirt that says i hate obama because he is black and lmk how that works out for you.

Not only is this person an idiot, but obviously a mislead idiot.

church!!

[shrewsbury]

satrcards and sanfran, good points.

[Wickabee]

His license shouldn't be suspended, nor should any government or police action take against him, unless Nazism or holocaust denial is a crime in the US.

As for his job, if the company wants to fire him, they should fire him. I think wearing Nazi regalia in a customer service oriented position is grounds for dismissal.

[shrewsbury]

wick, excellent points