Chris DeShields, the SEPTA bus driver who stopped a carjacking, is invited to Biden’s State of the Union address

Chris DeShields, a bus operator on SEPTA's Route 5, was invited by Rep. Brendan Boyle (D.,Pa.), who represents a Philly-based congressional district.

Route 5 SEPTA driver Chris DeShields is greeted by a co-worker as he starts his shift from the Frankford Transportation Center Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. Last week he interrupted a car-jacking by using his 40-foot bus to box in and scare off three would-be robbers who had dragged a woman out of her car and snatched her keys.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer

by Thomas Fitzgerald

Published Feb. 5, 2023, 5:03 a.m. ET

For Rep. Brendan Boyle of Philadelphia, the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, the first month of the new congressional session has been “like drinking from a fire hose.” He’s at the center of the partisan standoff over raising the national debt ceiling.

Inviting SEPTA bus operator Chris DeShields to attend Tuesday’s State of the Union address in Washington, however, is a pure pleasure, Boyle said.

Late on Jan. 25, DeShields was driving his Route 5 bus in Fishtown when he used the vehicle to break up a carjacking by scaring off the would-be robbers.

“It’s such a nice story about someone who’s unquestionably a hero,” Boyle said, and “an opportunity to do something nice for Chris and say thank you.”

When the 202 area code appeared on his caller ID, DeShields didn’t answer. He listened to Boyle’s voice message and first thought it was a friend pulling a prank on him. Boyle’s district office followed up, though, and the two men connected.

“I told the congressman I usually fall asleep during that speech. He laughed,” said DeShields, a veteran SEPTA bus driver with 17 years behind the wheel. He said he’s honored, of course, and looking forward to the trip — and won’t fall asleep in the House of Representatives.

The tradition of honored guests at the State of the Union address began in 1982, when President Ronald Reagan saluted Lenny Skutnik, a printing assistant at the Congressional Budget Office who had jumped into the partly frozen Potomac River two weeks earlier to rescue a survivor of the crash of Florida Air Flight 90. Reagan said Skutnik represented “the spirit of American heroism at its finest.”

It’s also become tradition for representatives and senators to invite a guest to sit in the House gallery for the annual speech, a hot bipartisan ticket in the nation’s capital and one of the few occasions of high ceremony left in politics besides presidential inaugurations.

For the record, there’s been no indication President Joe Biden plans to acknowledge DeShields from the House rostrum as he speaks to the joint session of Congress.

The parents of Tyre Nichols, the Black man who was beaten to death by Memphis police officers, plan to attend the speech at the invitation of Rep. Steven Horsford (D., Nev.), who is chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Boyle, who grew up in Olney, has a personal affinity for transit workers. His father, Frank, an Irish immigrant, was a janitor on the Broad Street Line. “To be able to honor a SEPTA worker gives me great joy,” he said.

“It’s so easy to be cynical,” Boyle said. “I think people are just craving things to celebrate and cheer that are inherently good.”

DeShields was driving north on Frankford Avenue near North Thompson Street about 10 p.m. when he saw three men holding up a woman for her car. One snatched the keys.

In an instant, he angled the bus to block them in, leaned on the horn, and shouted out the window.

Life moved fast after The Inquirer reported on the incident. Philadelphians weary of a spike in violent crime and tragic news hailed DeShields as a hero. They said on social media and elsewhere that his actions lifted their spirits. Many demanded that the mayor and SEPTA give him a medal, and the Fishtown Neighbors Association wants to thank and recognize him.

DeShields’ neighbors know. Teachers and parents at his child’s school have congratulated him. Some of his own teachers and classmates from elementary, middle, and high school reached out on Facebook.

“I got a little bit of a big head,” DeShields said. “I was joking with my buddy that I’ve got a security detail outside. … The attention has been very good. People have been so nice.”

On Tuesday, a Boyle aide will drive DeShields to Washington. He’ll visit the congressman in his office, get as much of a tour as possible with heightened security, and attend a reception in the office of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) just off the House floor. He’ll sit in the visitors gallery for the proceedings.

“I’m very proud of what he did,” Boyle said.