A California man accused of committing a federal hate crime wasn’t always a rideshare driver: He worked as a trust and security officer at Twitter.
Before driving for Lyft, Csaba John Csukás handled emergency disclosure requests at Twitter, now X, that were submitted by law enforcement officers seeking access to user accounts. (According to X guidelines (for law enforcement, approvals are evaluated on a case-by-case basis and approved only when there is a credible fear that a person may be in danger or suffer harm.)
After seeing the Twitter position on his LinkedIn page, Fortune confirmed with a source at X that he was employed there. (Most of Cuskás’ social media accounts now appear to be deleted.) When reached for comment Fortunean email response from X said: “Busy now, please come back later. »
Csukás faces 10 years in prison. It was arrested on March 13 for an incident on October 26 in which he allegedly hit a potential passenger. When Csukás approached the person who had requested transportation, he asked “if the victim was Jewish or Israeli, stated that he would not transport a Jewish or Israeli person” and punched the person in the face, according to the indictment.
“No one in this country should live in fear because of how they worship or where they come from. The Department of Justice will aggressively pursue those who commit violence motivated by anti-Semitism or bias of any kind,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Lyft confirmed to UPI that Csukás was the driver at the time of the incident and fired him after the altercation. A spokesperson added: “Lyft unequivocally condemns anti-Semitism and all other forms of discrimination based on religion or country of origin. We contacted the driver to provide support and assistance, permanently removed the driver’s account from the platform, and assisted law enforcement with their investigation.
According to the Matthew Sheppard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 – codified as 18 US Code § 249 – Csukás, if convicted, could also face an additional $250,000 fine of a decade in prison.
The Anti-Defamation League found that 2023 closed with an increase of 337% in anti-Semitic incidents, most of which occurred after October 7, the day Hamas launched an attack on Israel. The ADL found more than 2,000 anti-Semitic incidents between October 7 and December 7, 40 of which escalated into physical altercations.
“This terrifying pattern of anti-Semitic attacks has been relentless since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, with no sign of abating,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said at the time.
Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022, after which the Company’s Trust and Safety Council was dissolved. Musk comes under fire to approve anti-Semitic commentsaccusations that he is described as “fake” but also apologized for.
