An Illinois school bus driver is facing backlash after allegedly kicking a Hispanic student off his bus because the boy was speaking Spanish. The incident was caught on video and shared widely online. The footage shows the driver arguing with the student before making him get off the bus and driving away.
The video was first posted in full by X account @LongTimeHistory on behalf of the boy’s family. In the video, the driver, who works for Sunrise Transportation, confronts the student after hearing him speak Spanish.
“That’s my home language,” the boy tells him.
The driver responds by cursing at the student and telling him he is “not in *expletive* Mexico now.” He then demands that the boy speak English, saying, “You know I don’t know Spanish.”
When the student tries to explain himself, the driver calls him “so goddamn dumb” and tells him to “stop the *expletive*.”
The argument then gets worse. According to the account that shared the video, the driver ordered the boy off the bus miles away from school. He also allegedly threatened to hit the student if he tried to get back on the bus before driving away and leaving him on the side of the road.
When the driver was accused of racism, he reportedly responded by claiming he “got *expletive* black blood” in his blood and is “a quarter black,” seemingly suggesting that this meant he could not be prejudiced.
Sunrise Transportation has served Chicago Public Schools and the surrounding area for more than three decades, according to the company’s own materials. The company provides daily school bus routes as well as specialized transportation for students with special needs.
According to the boy’s family, they contacted the company after the incident to report what happened and demand answers. The family claims they were told there was little the company could do because the bus’s onboard cameras were not working at the time.
Internet Reacts to Illinois Bus Driver’s Rant
The video has drawn strong criticism online, with many people questioning why the driver would still be allowed to drive a school bus carrying children.
“That dude should be arrested for child endangerment!” one commenter wrote. Another asked, “What is this cranky and vulgar guy doing driving a school bus?”
Some commenters also focused on the political side of the confrontation.
“How are these MAGA racists this stupid? We live in a country of free speech which is why we don’t have a national language,” one user wrote. Another commenter took a more sarcastic approach, writing, “He’s just jealous that he can only speak one language.”
Others connected the incident to the ongoing debate over school phone bans. Some argued that limiting students’ access to phones could make it harder to record incidents of alleged misconduct. “THIS is why they want to ban phones in schools. It’s so that you can’t catch bad behavior like this on camera,” one commenter wrote.
Neither the driver nor Sunrise Transportation has issued a public statement about the incident. Illinois authorities have also not announced any findings.
