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MOORHEAD, Minn. - A Somali-American man from Moorhead says he was racially harassed while on the job.
Sharmake Mohamed was a driver for PTI, a company that transports Burlington Northern workers.
A shocking video he recorded while on the job has him looking for a new job.
Mohamed says he was driving three BNSF workers from Dilworth to Wisconsin, when he had a request.
"[It was] time to pray," says Mohamed. "I said, 'hey, I'm driving all the way, so I need to take five minutes to pray.'"
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He says he got out of the SUV in Brainerd, prayed, and when he came back, one of his riders was upset.
"He asked me not to go anywhere, and I said, 'I am supposed to do my job.'"
In the video, a man is heard saying, "I don't trust you people."
When Mohamed asks him why, the man says, "You have a history of killing people with vehicles."
Mohamed said he was shocked by what the worker said next: "Look at 9/11."
After the Tuesday night incident, Mohamed says the passengers got out of his SUV and waited for a different driver.
Mohamed was told by his supervisor to come back to Moorhead.
He says a BNSF representative told him something alarming about his upset passenger - he's confronted a Muslim driver before.
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"She told me, by the way, this guy, it's not the first time. It's twice," says Mohamed.
Now, fearing for his well-being, Mohamed says he simply can't drive for the company anymore.
"I can't work this job anymore because of my safety. It's dangerous."
He's out of a job, upset, and hoping for consequences for his passenger's actions.
BNSF says it's conducting a "thorough investigation" of the incident, and takes the matter very seriously.
PTI did not respond to our calls.
