Award winning screenwriter Alex O’Keefe, known to many for his work on the FX drama, The Bear, was arrested and kicked off of the train he was on after an old white lady complained about how he was sitting and called the cops on him.
Footage recorded by O’keefe was posted to his Instagram account over the weekend showing him being arrested while the officers ignored his protests and refused to give him an answer as to why he was even being arrested. The video shows the elderly woman who caused the whole scene as well as another elderly man that was possibly complicit.
O’Keefe was allegedly the only black man riding in that train car leading him and most of those who watched the video to come to the conclusion that he was targeted because of his race. In the video posted by the writer we see him getting pulled off of the train by cops and then placed in handcuffs.
“An old white woman got on the train and immediately pointed at me and told me to correct how I was sitting.” O’keefe explained in the caption on Instagram. “I refused so she went to the conductor and complained. The conductor called the police and stopped the train.” It seems clear that O’keefe had committed no crime and yet he was pulled off and the cops didn’t even take a statement or question the old woman.
What happened to O’keefe is unacceptable
The acclaimed screenwriter has quite the following online and many of his fans were quick to offer their support and express their sympathies. “I love you Alex.” wrote one Instagram user, adding that they were “So so so sorry this happened.” Some were even able to find out the identity of the elderly woman and man who incited the incident. However, this doesn’t fix the problem that the U.S. is facing.
What if O’keefe had not been a famous writer? If he had been a nobody with no online following would his story have been heard by the masses? Perhaps he would be in a jail cell now or worse. It feels very much like the entirety of America is moving backwards in time. Last week a Fox News host suggested killing the homeless like we’re in 1940’s Germany. Where will this madness end?
Alex O’keefe claims that he was eventually let go after demanding a lawyer and reminding the police that they hadn’t even spoken to the woman. “This country is growing more psycho by the day.” He wrote on Instagram, “What will you do about it?”
