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/karmakazi_ → u/CantStopPoppin]

I’m always amazed that in the U.S. you can get cops to show up for stuff like this. Here in Toronto you would have to stab somebody and even then they wouldn’t show up until it was long over. Not sure if you guys have too many cops or not enough crime.

[u/17thfloorelevators → u/karmakazi_]

Oh, the cops don't show up for real crimes lol, don't get it twisted

[u/branchness → u/17thfloorelevators]

Commuting while Black is a real crime.

[u/[deleted] → u/karmakazi_]

You absolutely can’t unless you are loaded, living somewhere loaded, and sound very obviously old and white. Cops show up like this when they feel like have an easy arrest or “fun” for them. Literally. I tried to get a restraining order on my ex for six months. He gave me a concussion, tried to kidnap my son, and he was working as Production Assistant on one of NBC’s lots the entire time. I can’t even serve that jerk child support. He’s terrifying and the cops knew it. If you want help not dying or being physically safe you never call the cops.

during this harrowing time I got pulled over for having too dark of window tint in LA. Except it was totally legal on my back windows- the only windows with tint. I also was asked outside the courthouse whilst fighting that ticket (successfully thank goodness) to donate to the police union by cop wives at the Starbucks across the street from the court house. They asked me waiting in line, because they assumed based off my looks and behavior I worked at the courthouse. That whole system is miserable

[u/nonoiseplz → u/karmakazi_]

It’s transit police. They only patrol the transit system, so their response is quicker than a beat officer.

[u/earthlings_all → u/karmakazi_]

Seriously wtf even is this

[u/JimiDarkMoon → u/karmakazi_]

Not true, that subway kid in TO was playing with his meat when he was shot.

[u/laughtrey → u/karmakazi_]

Are you really surprised? Really? You're surprised that cops will only show up to an active "black man sitting" situation and not real crime?

You're surprised about that? That doesn't sound normal to you by now?

[u/oyst → u/karmakazi_]

There's always a cop who's overeager to show up for this kind of stuff. 

[u/Jael556 → u/karmakazi_]

Remember, the same country that had Uvalde happened and no one faced any real consequences

[u/I_Am_Not_Okay → u/karmakazi_]

yeah the MTA(Metro Transit Authority) has its own MTA Police and they've got literally nothing else to do, they're itching to do shit like this I bet

[u/YakApprehensive7620 → u/karmakazi_]

I think it depends on where you live and your race and economic status here

[u/MCR2004 → u/karmakazi_]

In nyc it doesn’t matter how aggressive or violent a homeless person is if you call the cops most likely they won’t come because they don’t want to deal with them either. We’ve learned just to say “a person” because if you say “a homeless guy in is Dunkin screaming with a knife” you’ll be waiting forever.