The New York City hospital employee who was placed on leave this week after a viral video showed her appearing to take a rental bike from a group of young Black men had paid for the bike, according to her attorney who said he has the receipts to prove it.
Attorney Justin Marino told NBC New York that Sarah Comrie, who he said is six months pregnant, had just finished a 12-hour shift at Bellevue Hospital on Saturday and rented a Citi Bike. He said that’s when the group of men approached Comrie, who is white.
The video was initially posted on Twitter on May 13 and has been viewed more than 40 million times. It appears to show a white woman in NYC Health + Hospitals scrubs arguing with a young man over a Citi Bike that he says he has already rented. The man has his hand on the bike while Comrie screams, “Please help me.”
It’s unclear what happened before the minute-and-a-half video began, but the man doesn’t appear to touch Comrie in the posted clip, nor does he appear to verbally threaten her.
At one point, Comrie takes off her work identification badge and appears to try and push the man off the bike with her body. The man says in the video that the bike is his and “it’s on my account.”
When another person in scrubs approaches, Comrie appears to cry.
“You’re acting,” the man recording the video says. “She’s fake-crying. Stop fake-crying.”
Comrie eventually steps away from the bike and the video stops.
Many people on social media criticized Comrie, with some pointing out the risk placed on young Black men who are accused of wrongdoing by white women. Prominent civil rights lawyer Ben Crump tweeted that 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!” Crump wrote.
But, Marino told NBC New York that the incident is being taken out of context.
“Every part of that story is incorrect — starting with my client is not a racist,” he said. “Two, my client did not take anyone else’s bike.”
NBC New York reported that it viewed receipts connected to the incident and they show a rental for bike 560-3915. The rental lasted just one minute, according to the news station.
The bike seen in the video posted on Twitter shows that the code on it is 560-3915.
Marino said it’s not possible for more than one person to reserve the same bike at the same time. Citi Bike did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment on Friday.
The lawyer also had a receipt for a second bike that Comrie rented shortly after the incident so she could ride home, according to the news station.
Marino and Comrie could not immediately be reached on Friday by NBC News.
Bellevue Hospital, which is operated by NYC Health + Hospitals, previously issued a statement and called the video “disturbing.” It said the employee was on leave and “will remain on leave pending a review.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
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