Image Credit: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
Last night Channel 4 news spoke to the brother of Muhaydin Mire, the man who has been charged with attempted murder after a knife attack in London’s Leytonstone Tube station. Two people were injured during the attack, with one 56-year-old man left with serious stab wounds and another injured. Muhaydin had reportedly claimed he had committed the attack in response to the UK government’s air strikes in Syria, with his brother Mohamed appearing on the news station and stating that Muhaydin had suffered from a history of paranoia, and that his family had contacted the authorities on a number of occasions in order to seek support.
However, among the context being given during the news segment in order for viewers to paint a clearer picture of a complex issue, one statement stood out among some members of Channel 4’s audience: Muhaydin was an Uber driver.
Now this “revelation” has seen some London cab drivers use it as fuel in their ongoing taxi turf war against Uber, with drivers starting up the hashtag “#HeWasAnUberDriverBruv” in response to #YouAintNoMuslimBruv, which began trending in the UK following the attacks as a way of the country’s diverse population showing solidarity with one another. Unfortunately, some London cabbies have decided to use it as part of a PR war against their rivals, circulating PhotoShopped images of ISIS terrorists holding a flag baring the Uber logo, with both the London Taxi Driver Association and London Taxi Radio joining in.
The general theme of the London cabbies’ tweets is the continued suggestion that there are likely more ISIS terrorists (even though it hasn’t been confirmed whether Muhaydin has any affiliation with the Islamic State) hidden within Uber’s ranks. London Taxi Radio even refers to it as “state sponsored terrorism”, essentially suggesting that we’re paying Uber driver’s wages so they can drive us to work of a morning, and then terrorise us of an evening.
Since the Channel 4 news segment went to air, Uber have released a statement offering their condolences to those targeted in the violent attack, though have also stated that Muhaydin had only been an Uber driver for 3 months and had not picked up a customer since August.
“We’re appalled by this terrible attack and our hearts go out to the victims,” said Tom Elvidge, Uber’s general manager for the London area. “Muhaydin Mire was a private hire driver who was licensed by Transport for London. He started driving on the Uber platform in June 2015 and has not taken a trip since August.”
Essentially these London cab drivers are trying to create a PR nightmare for Uber by making themselves look like loathsome opportunists in the process. They’re capitalising on UK citizens’ fears for their own safety following the terrorist attacks in Paris, by way of insinuating that the Uber platform could have some form of bizarre connection with ISIS due to Muhaydin having been a former contractor of theirs.
While this obviously doesn’t reflect the views of every London cab driver, these select individuals and organisations’ utilisation of these attacks in order to further their own cause certainly isn’t casting them in a positive light. Hopefully their message won’t gain the traction they want it to.
