Clay County WV School Bus Driver Who Attacked Student With "F*ggots Burn in Hell" MUST BE FIRED

On September 5, 2017, a Clay County, WV Sheriff's Deputy and part-time bus driver named Robert Belt, dressed in his full Sheriff's uniform, alluded to an openly gay student on his bus, and announced over the bus PA system, "No faggot activity will be permitted on this bus. In my bible, it states that faggots will burn in hell, and I will not condone it." The child was doing nothing more than sitting quietly, having just boarded the bus.

The Nicholas County Democratic Organization released this statement on the incident, which reads in part, 

"On Friday, September 8th, 2017, a Clay County high school parent learned of the incident and voiced her concerns to the Clay County High School Vice Principal, Alan Tanner. Initially, Vice Principal Tanner stated, "I don't know what you are talking about," however, when pressed Principal Tanner said that he had reported the incident to the Clay County Director of Transportation, Jared Fitzwater.

The concerned parent discovered from the victim Leslie Osborne, Clay County school counselor, had taken three statements from students present on the bus.

Currently, Deputy Robert Belt continues to drive for the Clay County School system and is continuing to perform his official duties as Clay County Sheriff Deputy."


According to statistics compiled by the Trevor Project, "Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among young people ages 10 to 24." It's incidents like this that give us such an alarming statistic.

As West Virginia native and radio host, Bob Kincaid, wrote at RDTdaily.com, "Don't let them sweep this story under their dirty rug.  Share it until officials in Clay have no choice but to make sure the abuser has no access to power whatsoever.

Ask yourself, "What would he do to that child if he thought no one was watching?"

The idea that a child can't even ride to a PUBLIC school without being castigated by a hateful PUBLIC servant is both heartbreaking and infuriating."

It's clear that Robert Belt's personal biases make him unfit to serve the public at large, and especially unfit to be in charge of the welfare of minors. Please sign and share this petition so the Clay County Board of Education will know that bigotry and hatred, no matter how it's cloaked, will not be tolerated.