White Tears Strike Again: NYC Woman Goes Viral, Gets Racial Backlash After Crying Over Citibike
a viral video shows her arguing with a group of Black teenagers over a CitiBike, New York station WPIX reports.
In the video, the woman, who is wearing a NYC Health + Hospitals uniform, is seen calling for assistance with one hand on the bike, which is part of a bikeshare program in which bikes are rented to paying customers. One of the teenagers informs her that the bike is not hers to ride, that it was on his account, and that he had paid for it.
As the two begin to struggle over the bike, the woman then yells for help and says she is pregnant.
Although the woman is told again that the bike is not hers and that it’s on the teenager's CitiBike account, she attempts to cry while the person recording the footage tells her to “stop fake crying.”
When another hospital worker asked her why she didn’t take a different bike, she finally let it go and suddenly stopped crying. The video ends with her looking down at her cell phone.
Attorney Ben Crump, who shared the video, described the woman’s behavior as reckless.
“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!” his post read.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson from the NYPD said that an investigation was underway but an official complaint has not been filed.
“The NYPD is aware of the video circulating online. There are currently no 911 calls or reports on file for this incident,” the spokesperson said.”The NYPD encourages anyone who believes they were the victim of a crime to come forward and report it at any police facility so that an investigation can commence.”
In response to the incident, NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, the woman’s place of employment, released a statement on Twitter.
“We have recently become aware of an incident that occurred off-campus over the weekend and appears to involve one of our employees. We are sorry this happened and we are reviewing the incident,” the statement said.
“NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue is committed to providing the highest quality of care to all New Yorkers with dignity, cultural sensitivity, and compassion,” the statement continued.
