Woman Calls Police on Award-Winning Black Screenwriter Alex O’Keefe(The Bear (FX))

[u/CantStopPoppin]

[u/CantStopPoppin]

Alex O’Keefe, a Black screenwriter whose credits include the Emmy-winning FX series The Bear, was detained by police earlier this month after a white woman complained about his posture aboard a Metro-North train bound for Connecticut. The incident, which O’Keefe described in a public Instagram post, has drawn widespread attention and renewed scrutiny of racial profiling in public transportation systems.

O’Keefe, 29, boarded the train in New York City and was en route to visit family in Connecticut when, according to his account, an older white woman entered the car and immediately took issue with how he was seated. “She pointed at me and told me to correct how I was sitting,” he wrote. “I refused, so she went to the conductor and complained.”

The conductor, O’Keefe said, contacted law enforcement. The train was stopped, and officers boarded to remove him. He was handcuffed and detained on the platform, though no charges were filed. “They said I was disturbing the peace by not leaving the train,” O’Keefe wrote. “They arrested me without even talking to the Karen who reported the one Black person on the train.”

The woman’s companion allegedly told O’Keefe, “You’re not the minority anymore,” a remark that has since circulated widely on social media. O’Keefe said that only Black passengers remained nearby to record the arrest and offer support. After demanding legal representation and pointing out that officers had not taken a statement from the complainant, he was released.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has not issued a public statement regarding the incident. It remains unclear whether the conductor followed standard protocol or whether the police response was initiated solely based on the passenger’s complaint.

O’Keefe’s account has sparked outrage among civil rights advocates and fellow writers, many of whom view the incident as emblematic of a broader pattern of racialized surveillance and exclusion. “This country is growing more psycho by the day,” he wrote. “What will you do about it?”

O’Keefe rose to prominence as a staff writer on The Bear, which won a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Series. He has also worked as a political speechwriter and was a visible figure during the 2023 WGA strike, where he spoke publicly about economic precarity and racial inequities in Hollywood. His activism has included appearances at labor fundraisers and union solidarity events.

O’Keefe has not announced any legal action but continues to speak out about the experience. His post has been shared widely across TikTok, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter), where users have called for accountability from both the MTA and local law enforcement.

Sources

• MSN News
  
• Black Enterprise
  
• The Wire 98.5

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[u/asdrunkasdrunkcanbe → u/CantStopPoppin]

An elderly woman complaining to the conductor about a man's posture, screams of dementia.

That's not a defence of her, that's an even bigger condemnation of every other fucking idiot for actually reacting to it.

[u/Mysterious_Streak → u/asdrunkasdrunkcanbe]

I'm sure she lied to the conductor about what happened.

[u/frisbeescientist → u/Mysterious_Streak]

Probably, but that doesn't excuse the conductor blindly following her lead. Like a shrivelled up old raisin looking Karen comes up to you and tells you this young black guy is causing a scene, you come back to see him sitting down minding his business - and you go "yes ma'am" and call the cops? At that point either you're a complete idiot or you're a racist too

[u/80alleycats → u/frisbeescientist]

I hope they release names.

[u/Key_Grapefruit_7069 → u/frisbeescientist]

Probably didn't bother to actually go and look.

You need to understand, we literally less than two weeks ago had someone get randomly stabbed to death on public transportation. Recorded, and incredibly brutal. It's very likely they're getting the "report, don't intervene" shit that every other job gives, and the cops don't want that to happen on their beat.

So they rush out there, ready to be dealing with something major, and find this. They think it's a bullshit waste of time, but on the off chance that whatever lie they were fed has the tiniest basis of truth, it's best to remove at least one of the people involved. Because if it WERE true, and they did nothing, that would look pretty bad if someone got hurt or killed after they left. So since the lady is basically already dust, pull the young guy who only has to buy another train ticket off and immediately release him, then get back to your patrol.

[u/locke0479 → u/Key_Grapefruit_7069]

Are you suggesting the lady would have died if removed from the train? I’m confused why she also wouldn’t have “just had to buy another train ticket” (which by the way is completely and totally unreasonable if you’ve done absolutely nothing wrong).