Petition In Support Of Bus Driver Suspended For Uppercutting, Attacking Female Passenger Grows Times Thousands

Thousands of people feel Cleveland bus driver Artis Hughes was unjustly suspended for uppercutting, attacking female passenger Shidea Lane after she spit on, hit him first..

A petitioner named Andrei Pambuccian from the UK wants Mr. Hughes' job immediately reinstated, and is calling for people to sign the petition to help her cause. The petition has already gathered close to 3,000 signees, and counting.

Andrei writes...

The Regional Transit Authority's response was to suspend Mr. Hughes pending an investigation. We, the undersigned, acknowledge that public opinion will have an influence on the investigation's outcome, and so we state our belief that following this investigation, Mr. Hughes should be reinstated and receive the RTA's support in the wake of the incident.

As a bus driver, Mr. Hughes was lied to, insulted, threatened and eventually attacked by one of the passengers  He was clearly justified in striking back. Were he to suffer any negative consequences to his employment as a result of defending himself and striking back, this would set a disastrous precedent: he and other employees would legitimately believe that their workplace expects them to put up with harassment  and that they will lose their jobs if they choose to stand up for themselves. Rather than dismissing Mr. Hughes, the RTA should begin to enforce a zero tolerance policy towards the abuse of staff by passengers, one that could enable people like Mr. Hughes to do their jobs with dignity and security.

As well as being a bus driver, Mr. Hughes is a man, and Ms. Lane is a woman. We continue to live in a world in which some people see fit to scold men for fighting back against the women who abuse them. After Mr. Hughes struck Ms. Lane, a woman could be heard protesting about it, saying "That's a [censored] female". Mr. Hughes responded by saying: "I don't care. You want to be man? I'm going to treat you like a man!" This is a healthy attitude: if men refuse to strike back, fearing that the law will favor their female abusers over them, we create an environment in which women can harass and victimize men with impunity. Instead, a man's decision to fight back against a woman should be respected.

It is for these reasons - the fact that the bus driver was the real victim and was justified in hitting back; that he and other bus drivers should not fear the legal consequences of responding to attacks by passengers; and that men in general should not fear the legal consequences of responding to attacks by women - that we urge you to reinstate Mr. Artis Hughes following the investigation on the incident, and hope that future policies will safeguard him and other bus drivers from legal assault whenever they respond to a passenger's physical assault.

The female passenger, Shidea Lane, has thus spoken out about the altercation (click Pink for more). 

Click Pink if you would like to sign the petition, let us know how you feel about the incident. Who was right or wrong, or both?