‘The Bear’ Writer Alex O’Keefe Says He Was Handcuffed & Detained By Police After “An Old White Woman” On A Train Complained About Him
A former writer for The Bear, Alex O’Keefe, posted video recently showing what he says occurred on a transit train in Connecticut after the WGA Award-winning scribe refused to comply with a fellow passenger’s demand.
O’Keefe, who is Black, says “an old white woman got on the train and immediately pointed at me and told me to correct how I was sitting.” He says he refused and subsequently was “pulled off, handcuffed, and detained” by police.
Per AP, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said O’Keefe had been sitting with both legs stretched across an adjacent seat — a violation of the rail line’s rules.
In a video posted online O’Keefe, who wrote on eight episodes of the hit show in Season 1, is heard saying, “This white woman said she didn’t like the way I was sitting on the train, so you call the police to arrest the one Black dude on the train.”
As officers grab his arm and begin handcuffing him, O’Keefe says to them, “I haven’t done anything illegal.”
An officer tells him to stop resisting.
“Resisting what?” the writer asks. “I was sitting on a train and you’re going to arrest me for what? You havn’t even told me what you’re going to arrest me for.”
A subsequent clip shows O’Keefe outside the train and facing a wall while surrounded by four officers. One officer takes notes as another asks questions.
Here’s the full text he posted online:
I was arrested on the @MTA train to Connecticut today, pulled off, handcuffed, and detained. 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. While waiting for the police to arrive, the old Karen’s friend said “You’re not the minority anymore.” 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?
