EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Ride-share drivers in Juarez blocked the street in front of a government building Tuesday morning to protest the murder of one of their own.
The drivers are demanding better police protection after Jesus Rafael Diaz was gunned down late Monday night, apparently by a robber posing as a customer. Diaz, known on social media as “Rafa Wayne,” livestreamed the robbery before the assailant took away his cellphone and demanded the password.
Less than a month ago, another Juarez ride-share driver was shot dead in a dark street after he dropped off a fare. Ismael Villagomez Tapia was a full-time news photographer for El Heraldo de Juarez newspaper who moonlighted as a driver-for-hire to make ends meet.
Diaz was a regular on social media platforms such as TikTok and Facebook Live. Posters filled one of his social media pages with comments of outrage and sadness over the violence plaguing their city.
“You, the relatives, do not hide the assailants. If you know it was your son, your nephew, turn them over to the authorities,” said one poster on Facebook.
“Why do bad things happen to good people?” said another poster.
Diaz and other drivers were planning a December 20 charity drive to collect and deliver toys for needy children, according to his social media.
El Diario reported that the drivers were planning a more massive protest in front of the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Juarez.
Chihuahua Deputy Attorney General Carlos Manuel Salas confirmed the identify of the victim and said he is the fourth shared-ride driver killed in Juarez in the past few months. He said investigators are are trying to find out who last hired Diaz on the shared-ride platform.
Salas said police located at least one of Diaz’s cell phones and are examining security camera videos on main avenues in the general vicinity of the robbery.
“Investigators are talking to (Diaz’s) father. He has contributed valuable information to the investigation, as have other drivers who were following (Diaz) on his (social media) platforms,” Salas said. “This is very regrettable. Sometimes people involved in criminal activities call upon platforms like Uber to engage in their activities and they end up threatening the drivers, taking their cars and sometimes assaulting them.
“These are people without scruples, vicious and very dangerous.”
(ProVideo contributed to this report.)