Award-Winning Writer Arrested After White Woman Complains About Train Seat

What We Know:

• On September 21, O’Keefe posted on Instagram that he was pulled off an MTA train to Connecticut, handcuffed, and detained after a white woman complained about his seating position.

• The woman reported him to the conductor, who stopped the train and called police. O’Keefe said officers arrested him without even speaking to her first.

 

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• He was accused of “disturbing the peace” for refusing to leave the train, though he insisted he did nothing illegal.

• Videos he shared show police officers and the elderly woman during the incident; he stated only Black passengers stayed nearby to record.

• After demanding a lawyer, O’Keefe was released. He also claims the woman’s friend told him, “You’re not the minority anymore”.

• The MTA has not issued a public statement. Social media users have rallied behind O’Keefe, urging him to sue and calling the arrest “humiliating” and unjust.

This incident adds to ongoing conversations about racial profiling and policing of Black riders in public spaces.