Media Bias: NYC Nurse Accused of Stealing Bike

By Ophelia Garrett

In Brief:

A physician’s assistant in New York City has become the topic of a media smear, causing her to be doxxed and put on leave from her employer. 

The Background: 

Last week, a video went viral of a pregnant woman surrounded by a group of young men insisting they had paid for the bike she was trying to ride home after working a 12 hour shift as a physician's assistant. 

The media immediately nicknamed her “CitiBike Karen” and “racist.”

In the video, which begins after the confrontation had already started, already giving the viewer only a partial story,  you can see pregnant Sarah Jane Comrie sitting on a bike and arguing with a young man who is holding onto the handle to keep her from riding off. They are both insisting they paid for the bike. Meanwhile, the man filming and another friend are taunting and mocking the woman accusing her of fake crying and saying her baby is going to be born “retarded.” 

Eventually, another bystander walks up and asks why nobody is taking the available bike that is still sitting there instead of fighting. At this point, the man holding onto the bike forcibly pushes the bike with Comrie still on it, back into the docking station, therefore resetting it. She then gets on another bike for her commute home. 

The media immediately vilified and named her a racist — despite only seeing a partial story. 

Internet sleuths went so far as to publish her name, confirm her place of employment and position, as well as publish her personal address. Comrie has now gone into hiding due to death threats and has been suspended from her job. 

And guess what, she had rented the bike. She had the receipt to prove it. Yet, the media is still claiming that she’s a racist because she cried and yelled for help instead of just giving up the bike when it was demanded of her. 

Articles are being written and tweets tweeted asking if she should be allowed to practice medicine and if she’s ever treated persons of color. She has even been compared to Carolyn Bryant, the woman at the center of the horrific and brutal murder of Emmet Till. 

But everyone is missing the bigger picture. In this video, there are multiple adults behaving like toddlers. I am all for standing up for yourself. But that was not this. 

I have two sons. And if I saw a video of them treating another human being e in this manner — but especially a pregnant woman or elder — you better believe that behavior would be dealt with. As for Comrie, from the clip we’ve been shown, she does escalate the situation. She should have calmly offered to check her receipt and ask him to do the same. 

But no, the media won’t report this. 

The media wants to stir everyone up into a frenzy and divide people based on color — exactly what so many people have fought against for so long. 

Notable Quotes: 

“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!” – Benjamin Crump

“Sarah Jane Comrie cannot be trusted to provide fare (sic) and impartial medical care to Black male patients of any age and Black patients in general. She cannot be trusted alone or with colleagues to treat them. Fire her immediately. She is a proven racist willing to lie against them.” – via Twitter