A cab driver in Nashville, Tennessee was arrested Sunday and is being held on $300,000 bond. He is facing multiple charges, including attempted homicide. According to a police report, two college students exited the cab, paid the driver his fare, and proceeded to walk away. But then the cab driver “drove across a parking lot, jumped a curb and struck the two men.”Why? At some point, the students and cabbie got into an argument, not over sports or politics, but religion. Both students survived the attack, but one sustained critical injuries and is recovering at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
One local newspaper reported that one of the students is Catholic and the other is Lutheran, while “Ahmed’s religion was not known.” But the local Fox News affiliate in Nashville reportedly “confirmed from a friend and fellow co-worker that Ahmed is a Sunni Muslim from Somalia.”
Is it possible that the cab driver, Ibrahim Ahmed, is yet another victim of “sudden jihad syndrome”? Oh, forgive me, friends – that would be religious profiling! I’m sure that Ahmed’s religion had nothing to do with his attempt to run over a Catholic and a Lutheran after a heated argument over religion.
Regardless, this incident never should have happened; Ahmed should not have been driving Sunday morning. According to press reports, Ahmed has had prior run-ins with law enforcement. In June of 2006, he was cited for driving on a suspended license and failing to stop for law enforcement. Five months later, he led police on a high-speed chase (reaching speeds of 100 mph through downtown Nashville) that ended when Ahmed struck another vehicle.
(Source: Gary Bauer, End-of-Day, 2/20/07)
