In the caption of the Instagram post, he wrote, “An old white woman got on the train and immediately pointed at me and told me to correct how I was sitting. I refused, so she went to the conductor and complained. The conductor called the police and stopped the train,” he said.
O’Keefe also says in the caption that the friend of the woman who called the police had said to him, “You’re not the minority anymore.”
A separate video about the incident has been uploaded by the user, Nalae, on TikTok, where it has quickly gone viral, having been viewed over 160,000 times as of reporting.
They said I was disturbing the peace by not leaving the train. They pulled me off the train and arrested me without even talking to the Karen who reported the one black person on the train. On the platform, the police detained me and interrogated me. Only black folks stayed nearby and recorded the arrest. When I demanded a lawyer and reminded them they didn’t even take a statement from the woman who complained they eventually released me. This country is growing more psycho by the day. What will you do about it?"
I think part of the problem is black people being forced into situations where they can’t be sure whether it’s racism or not… And even then, to what degree.
According to the abc he was refusing to take his feet off the seat, even when it was the conductor asking him to. So I suspect he got racist vibes from the first lady (being old, and a woman) and then dug in, and got trapped (by the woman, then the conductor, and the cops aka triangulation. The pile on leading to entrenchment).
He may have only had his legs on the seat, but not his feet …but taking up two seats is still against the rules (so again it would feel like persecution).
So the feelings of persecution and injustice (which will have other experiential memories attached) conspire to make one feel crazy, penned in, and act out.
It’s childish (as systemic racism is a form of paternalistic infantilisation) but a type of childishness that may be somewhat justified, or at least understandable. He wouldn’t be the first person to dig in when feeling persecuted. It’s very normal and natural, and hopefully these puzzles of behavioural entrapment are better understood and discussed in the future.
Solid and fair analysis IMO. His feelings were valid. He had a moral right to nonviolently push back against what he perceived as injustice, and presumably knew he might face consequences. Presumably felt it was worth it.
Wonder if the train was full. And if his feet were on a jacket/other barrier (allowed on some systems whereas direct contact is not). Also wish I knew whether the older woman has ever asked white women to comply with little rules.