A High Profile Ally Gets On The Bus – To Show Solidarity With Embattled Cats Drivers

CHARLOTTE, NC.– County Commissioner Vilma Leake took the bus route from North Tryon and back Thursday. She wanted to experience it for herself, to see if she would feel safe.

“To see that there is no support, no police protection, no sheriff’s protection, nobody’s protecting on this bus. Nobody,” Leake says.

She worries there’s not enough being done to protect bus drivers and passengers. It comes after 41-year-old Ethan Rivera died on the job last month in what police are calling a road rage shooting. The suspect, 21-year-old Darian Thavychith, was arrested Tuesday in Kansas after a two-week manhunt. Leake is calling on the city to step up.

“We’re gonna ask that the city do its job. I’m sick of them not doing what they’re supposed to do for our people in this community.”

CATS employees want bulletproof partitions installed on all buses and security on all bus routes. They also want cats CEO John Lewis to call an emergency meeting and address their concerns, and employees say all buses should have working phones.

“I’m asking this community to force the CATS people to do a better job of protecting our people.”