Attorney for woman in viral Citi Bike fight video says argument had nothing to do with race
NEW YORK -- A fight over a Citi Bike last week has exploded on social media, and now an attorney for the woman in the video is fighting the claims circulating online.
Her attorney says she's been unfairly branded, as he puts it, as a "Karen."
Sarah Jane Comrie, a physician's assistant, says she had just ended her shift at Bellevue Hospital in Kips Bay and was ready to pick up the Citi Bike she says she reserved, but both she and a young Black man claimed the same bike outside the hospital.
In a video, Comrie can be seen shouting, "Help. Help me. Please help me," while the young man says "This is not your bike."
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Comrie, who is six months pregnant, later says, "You're hurting my fetus."
The young man responds, "I'm not touching you. You're putting your stomach on my hand."
"Why not reset the bike?" another person asks.
"I'm not resetting the bike. It's on my account," the young man says.
"It's his," someone with the young man says.
The video got national attention when it was posted by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who wrote, "This is unacceptable! A white woman was caught on camera attempting to STEAL a Citi Bike from a young Black man in NYC. She grossly tried to weaponize her tears to paint this man as a threat. This is EXACTLY the type of behavior that has endangered so many Black men in the past!"
"The whole narrative that, like, she stole the bike is patently wrong," said Justin Marino, Comrie's attorney.
Marino says she paid for the bike first, and he produced receipts of her purchase. He claims in her condition, she would never try to fight for the bike.
"Do you think any pregnant woman in their right mind would jump on another young man's bike and, like, just scoot away while they are six months pregnant?" he said.
A spokesperson for NYC Health + Hospitals says the health care provider is now on leave pending a review of the incident.
Her attorney says they have no beef with the young man but object to what Crump wrote.
"It's appalling that, you know, like, race, you know, is somehow, like, imputed as that being the issue here," Marino said.
He says his client now fears for her safety.
"She's been threatened. People have been outside the house. She's had someone send her a picture of her front door, saying, 'I'm here for you,'" Marino said.
The young man in the video has not yet been identified. The NYPD says nobody reported the incident to them.
