Judge tosses summons for former ‘The Bear’ writer who was handcuffed in NYC train seating dispute
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NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City judge has dismissed a civil summons against Alex O’Keefe, a former writer for FX’s hit show “The Bear” who was removed from a commuter train in handcuffs last month following a seating dispute.
O’Keefe, who is Black, has accused transit officers of targeting him over his race after another passenger complained about how O’Keefe was sitting on a Metro-North train.
In a video filmed by O’Keefe that gained widespread attention online, the TV screenwriter can be heard asking officers: “You’re going to 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?”
The train didn’t appear to be full in the video.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said police arrived after a conductor complained that O’Keefe had spread his legs across an adjacent seat on the train in violation of the rail line’s rules.
He refused officers’ directions to exit the train, the MTA said, and was placed in handcuffs, questioned on a platform and released with a summons for disorderly conduct.
That summons was dismissed Tuesday by an administrative judge, a common outcome for such alleged violations.
In a video filmed outside the courthouse, O’Keefe accused the MTA of trying and failing “to make an example of me”
“I was harassed and detained for sitting while Black,” O’Keefe added in a statement. “Even though this absurd case was dismissed today, I will continue to defend the civil rights of every New Yorker.”
A spokesperson for the transit authority did not respond to a request for comment on the dismissal.
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber previously described the altercation as a simple case of a passenger not following the agency’s rules.
“The police have to get involved because somebody won’t take his feet off the seat?” Lieber said, adding: “Just take your feet off the seat. It’s that simple. And respect other passengers. But we’ll take a look at the video and deal with all the dramas that seem to come out of these simple interactions these days.”
O’Keefe, 31, won a 2023 Writers Guild Award with other writers as “The Bear” was named best comedy series.