Solomon Okoroh’s casket. Photo courtesy of Russ Ptacek
The Taxi Link airs Sat. 7-8 pm on WUST 1120 AM. Listen here:
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The movement for greater awareness surrounding violence against cab drivers recently received a boost from an unlikely source. In a series of sting operations, WUSA9 reporter Russ Ptacek has portrayed D.C. cabbies as discriminatory, without mentioning the dangers drivers face. But that changed last week with Ptacek’s report on the funeral service for Solomon Okoroh.
Okoroh, a father of five, was shot and killed last month while driving his cab in Adams Morgan. Okoroh was known to pick up everyone. “Unfortunately, good people, like Solomon who don’t care, who go out of their way to pick up anybody, they pay the price,” Pastor Yomi Ademuwagun, who previously worked as a part-time cab driver, told Ptacek.
Earlier this month, Ptacek debated the subject of cabbie safety and discrimination on The Taxi Link, where he committed to supporting taxi drivers in their struggle to get home safely. “To his credit, Russ went out and covered [Okoroh’s funeral],” said The Taxi Link co-host Tony Norman. Violence against drivers is “a part of the taxicab industry that needs to be shown.”
Related stories:
DC cabbie Solomon James Okoroh’s funeral prompts cab safety discussion (WUSA9)
Debating Cabbie Safety and Discrimination (TheFightBack)
Driver killed; Council wants data; taxi commission doesn’t have any (TheFightBack)
The Taxi Link airs Saturday 7-8 p.m. on WUST 1120 AM. The show is sponsored by The Small Business Association of DC Taxicab Drivers, volunteer-hosted by TheFightBack’s Pete Tucker and D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1B Chairman Tony Norman, produced by Will Martin and engineered by Mark Taylor.