About 30 protesters, mostly cab drivers, gathered this afternoon in front of Dallas City Hall to demand that criminal charges be filed against two men who shoved a mortally wounded cab driver out of his taxi and drove away. Bashir Abraham, a 30-year-old Somali immigrant, was shot repeatedly during a drive-by early on the morning of April 19 after picking up Fidel Retana, 25, and Ezequiel Vasquez, 31, at the XTC Cabaret strip club.
Authorities say Jose Luis Covarrubias Jr., 21, opened fire on Abraham's cab with a shotgun, targeting one of Abraham's passengers because the men had argued minutes earlier at the club.
Retana and Vasquez, who were also shot but suffered no life-threatening injuries, left Abraham in the road and drove the cab to a hospital. Police later found Abraham dead in the street.
"You can't do that to a dog," said Mohamoud Farad Egal, an organizer of the protest and a cousin of Abraham's. "If there is no law, we need something."
Walking around the reflecting pool in front of Dallas City Hall, the protesters chanted "Justice now!" They held signs proclaiming, "A cab driver's life is valuable" and "No justice. No peace." Bashir Abraham
While police officials sympathize with the protesters and Abraham's family, they said that it doesn't appear that the passengers' actions violated the law.
Laws concerning failure to stop and render aid typically apply only to traffic accidents. And even though they took his cab, there was no intent to steal it because they drove it to the hospital after being injured.
"We talked to the DA" on the day of the shooting, said Sgt. Bruce McDonald, a homicide supervisor. "We didn't really see any charge that we can file, and they agreed."
Covarrubias, the shooting suspect, remains at large and is believed to be in Mexico.
Abraham had attended high school in the Minneapolis area before relocating to the Dallas area several years ago. He lived with his father and sister in Irving.
Friends and co-workers say Abraham was a hardworking cab driver who often worked seven days a week for Ambassador Cab. Bright and ambitious, Abraham wanted to go to college but worked to support his family both here and in Somalia.
Representatives from several Islamic groups, as well as civil rights activists, also were on hand for the protest.
"We need justice," said Ahmed Salah, a friend and fellow cab driver for Ambassador Cab. "If they had taken him to the hospital, he might have had a chance to survive."
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