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By Marni Rose McFall
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Alex O'Keefe, the award-winning screenwriter who is known for his work on FX's hit show, The Bear, shared in an Instagram post that he was pulled off an MTA train by police after a white woman complained about the way he was sitting.
Newsweek has reached out to the MTA and O'Keefe outside of regular working hours via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Based in New York City and born in Florida, O'Keefe is known both for his work on The Bear, as well as for his work as a speechwriter for Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey.
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O'Keefe gave multiple interviews during the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike and previously appeared on the popular Pod Save America podcast.
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There have been multiple viral incidents of white people calling the police on people of colour over the years, which have in turn sparked discourse online about racism, discrimination, and biases.
What To Know
"I was arrested on the @MTA train to Connecticut today, pulled off, handcuffed, and detained," O'Keefe wrote on Instagram.
His Instagram post includes four slides. The first slide is a video, where O'Keefe films law enforcement officers. In the video, he says, "You're gonna arrest the one Black dude on the train, because this white woman said she didn't like the way I was sitting on the train."
In the video, he films a woman whom he points at. The woman is elderly and wearing a face mask.
"You call the police to arrest the one Black dude on the train," he says in the video, adding, "I haven't done anything illegal."
In the caption of the Instagram post, he wrote, "An old white woman got on the train and immediately pointed at me and told me to correct how I was sitting. I refused, so she went to the conductor and complained. The conductor called the police and stopped the train," he said.
O'Keefe also says in the caption that the friend of the woman who called the police had said to him, "You're not the minority anymore."
A separate video about the incident has been uploaded by the user, Nalae, on TikTok, where it has quickly gone viral, having been viewed over 160,000 times as of reporting.
What People Are Saying
Alex O'Keefe, the writer, in his Instagram caption: "The police told me to leave the train, I refused and asked what was I doing illegally. They said I was disturbing the peace by not leaving the train. They pulled me off the train and arrested me without even talking to the Karen who reported the one black person on the train. On the platform, the police detained me and interrogated me. Only black folks stayed nearby and recorded the arrest. When I demanded a lawyer and reminded them they didn't even take a statement from the woman who complained they eventually released me. This country is growing more psycho by the day. What will you do about it?"
Eliana Chinea, a journalist, commented on O'Keefe's Instagram post: "That's horrible. I'm so sorry you went through this. I hope you have a good lawyer who will sue because this can't go unchecked!"
Kari Ferrell, an Instagram user with over 100,000 followers, commented on O'Keefe's Instagram post: "Alex, we stand with you! @govkathyhochul @nycmayor @mta CONTROL YOUR GOONS!
Anna Morgan, a DJ, commented on O'Keefe's Instagram post: "Really hope you sue that lady, the conductor, each one of those officers and the precinct. Make them pay this is insane."
What's Next
MTA have not publicly responded to the incident as of the time of this reporting.
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