School bus driver no longer employed after George Floyd comment to student

A white school bus driver in Louisiana is no longer employed after making a racist remark to a Black student that referenced the murder of George Floyd. 

WWL-TV in Louisiana first reported that the driver scolded 11-year-old Rashad Gabriel after his face mask slipped below his nose as he ran to catch the school bus to Trist Middle School in St. Bernard Parish on April 9. 

Gabriel told the driver that he was out of breath after running to catch the bus, to which the driver responded, “Since George Floyd, that’s what you all say, but I don’t see a knee on your neck.”

Rashad’s mother, Rose Gabriel, said she reported the comment to the St. Bernard Parish School District after her son came home from school upset over the incident.

“He said, ‘Mom, the bus driver said something to me that was racist,’ ” Gabriel told WWL-TV.

“I’m like, ‘Are you sure she said that?’ He said, ‘Yeah, all the kids on the bus heard it,’ ” she continued.

The comment was also recorded on a camera installed on the bus, according to the outlet.

The bus driver is no longer employed with the district, the St. Bernard Parish School System confirmed to The Hill. 

Alex LaPres Schneider, communications coordinator for the school system, did not confirm whether the driver was fired or resigned.

“The statement the driver made does not reflect the values of our school district and were offensive, inappropriate , and racially insensitive. The district took appropriate action in addressing this situation,” she said.

Gabriel said the incident made her cry and that “I get chills right now.” 

“I just started crying. Because she … excuse me. Don’t make him feel inferior. He’s not inferior to nothing. He’s equal to any of those students on that bus,” she told WWL-TV. 

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty on Tuesday of all three charges he faced for the murder of Floyd last year. Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest, and Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests calling for widespread police and criminal justice reforms. 

Updated at 12:09 p.m.