HONK! Virginia Uber Driver Turns Out to Be Alleged Somali War Criminal
Peter D'Abrosca
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An Uber driver in Virginia turns out to be an accused Somali war criminal known for torturing enemies, according to Wednesday reports.
“I do this full time,” Yusuf Abdi Ali told CNN reporters who hitched a ride with him. “They just want your background check, that’s it.”
Ali’s background check apparently turned up no crimes in American databases, but a quick internet search of his name shows that he is alleged to have brutally killed several people in his native Somalia. A Somali farmer, Farhan Warfaa, traveled all the way to the United States to sue Ali in civil court, alleging that Ali shot his brother five times at point blank-range after torturing him.
“Ali was the commander of the Somali army’s notorious fifth brigade responsible for “gross human rights abuses” in the separatist province of Somaliland during the Barre regime of the 1970s and 1980s, according to the complaint brought by the California-based Center for Justice and Accountability,” said a Guardian report.
He was the subject of a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation documentary in which eyewitnesses described his crimes.
“Two men were caught, tied to a tree. Oil was poured on them and they were burnt alive. I saw it with my own eyes. I cut away their remains,” one witness said.
“He caught my brother,” another said. “He tied him to a military vehicle and dragged him behind. … He shredded him into pieces. That’s how he died.”
Ali reportedly fled to Canada when the war ended, but was deported to the United States when Canadian authorities discovered his history. He has also worked at Dulles International Airport during his time in the United States.
Uber is facing increased scrutiny over security policies after a University of South Carolina student got into the wrong car, thinking it was her Uber, and was brutally murdered by the driver.
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