Heated exchange between acquitted taxi driver, passengers on Halifax bus
The cab driver acquitted of sexually assaulting a female passenger by a judge who said “clearly a drunk can consent” appears to have been the focus of verbal jabs on a Halifax Transit bus.
Judge Gregory Lenehan’s comments following Bassam Al-Rawi’s acquittal have resulted in nationwide condemnation and planned rallies, in addition to petitions and calls that he be investigated.
Outrage on social media was swift as word of the verdict and the judge’s comments spread.
On Thursday evening, the Instagram account @halifaxnoise posted a photo of a man alleged to be Al-Rawi. He’s seated at the back of the bus, eyes downcast.
Along with the posted photo, Halifaxnoise notes the following:
“This guy sitting in front of (the alleged) rapist cabby TOTALLY called him a “disgusting rapist”... he continued to somewhat say that in his face and (the alleged) rapist cabby was so upset he was stuttering, saying “the judge proved me innocent!”
The guy across him then said “your disgusting DNA was on the girl!”
Then another girl on the other side was verbally assaulting him also.
“He was getting so upset from being called a rapist that he went to the front to stand next to the bus driver.
“I guess he felt weak! Like his victim.”
As of Friday afternoon that post had garnered almost 900 likes and more than 100 comments. Although most appeared to support the post and the bus passengers who verbalized their displeasure, a few said promoting bullying wasn’t the answer.
Halifax Regional Police Const. Dianne Penfound said while police understand people are upset, they wanted to remind them that vigilantism is never the answer and verbal disputes can easily escalate.
“We can’t tell people not to yell at other people, but it could lead to perhaps police involvement, which of course is something you don’t want to have happen,” Penfound said in an interview.
“People call in verbal dispute complaints all the time. We promote that because we don’t want it to escalate to a physical dispute or an assault.”
Penfound said as of Friday afternoon, Halifax Regional Police hadn’t received any complaints about a verbal dispute aboard a Halifax Transit bus.
People are expressing their concerns about the acquittal and the judge’s comments via multiple petitions and planned protests. One online started on Thursday calling for a formal inquiry into Justice Gregory Lenehan had already garnered more than 21,000 signatures by Friday afternoon.
Several protests have also been organized since the verdict, including one set for March 7 and another for March 8.