NEW YORK (AP) — A New York Metropolis decide has dismissed a civil summons towards Alex O’Keefe, a former author for FX’s hit present “The Bear” who was faraway from a commuter practice in handcuffs final month following a seating dispute.
O’Keefe, who’s Black, has accused transit officers of focusing on him over his race after one other passenger complained about how O’Keefe was sitting on a Metro-North practice.
In a video filmed by O’Keefe that gained widespread consideration on-line, the TV screenwriter may 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 practice did not look like full within the video.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority mentioned police arrived after a conductor complained that O’Keefe had unfold his legs throughout an adjoining seat on the practice in violation of the rail line’s guidelines.
He refused officers’ instructions to exit the practice, the MTA mentioned, and was positioned in handcuffs, questioned on a platform and launched with a summons for disorderly conduct.
That summons was dismissed Tuesday by an administrative decide, a standard end result for such alleged violations.
In a video filmed exterior the courthouse, O’Keefe accused the MTA of attempting and failing “to make an example of me”
“I was harassed and detained for sitting while Black,” O’Keefe added in an announcement. “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 didn’t reply to a request for touch upon the dismissal.
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber beforehand described the altercation as a easy case of a passenger not following the company’s guidelines.
“The police have to get involved because somebody won’t take his feet off the seat?” Lieber mentioned, including: “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, received a 2023 Writers Guild Award with different writers as “The Bear” was named finest comedy sequence.
