(NewsNation) — A Jewish woman using rideshare service Lyft was stunned to find the driver assigned to her had a license plate she believes celebrates the Oct. 7 attack in Israel.
Last Saturday night in Richmond, Virginia, a Jewish woman told NewsNation exclusively that she called a Lyft only to be shocked by the vanity license plate on the car.
The plate said October 7 and the rider, Alyssa, said she first thought the date was the driver’s birthday. But with the Palestinian flag border and lyrics that appear to be part of a resistance song, she saw the plate as a celebration of the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.
It’s not clear when the plate was issued and NewsNation is not revealing the driver’s picture or username because we have been unable to reach him.
Alyssa was shocked at the plate.
“When he just very cheerfully said October 7, I was like, that can’t be right. Then when I walked up to the car and saw the Palestinian border and the words about Palestinian resistance, I think it was one of those fight or flight moments,” she said. “I immediately just went into de-escalation mode.”
Alyssa told NewsNation at that point, she hid her Star of David necklace and got in the car for a short ride through downtown Richmond. She said she didn’t want to bring it up or escalate the situation.
She later complained to Lyft and asked for a refund, which was denied until NewsNation reached out to the company.
“Lyft unequivocally condemns antisemitism and all forms of discrimination. We have permanently banned this driver from the Lyft platform and refunded the rider for this ride,” the company said in a statement.
NewsNation also contacted the Department of Motor Vehicles to ask if the license plate violates any state policy. The agency said it is “undergoing review of this plate” and it appreciates reports of personalized plate messages that could violate guidelines.
Those guidelines say that if there are other words or images on a vehicle that can impact the reading of a plate in a way that could be reasonably seen as profane or encouraging violence, it can be revoked.
