GoFundMe for teen in Citi Bike scandal: Fundraiser raises over $38,000 for West Africa immigrant and his family

A fundraiser has been created on GoFundMe for the teen involved in the NYC Citi Bike scandal. The initiative was taken to help support the teenager and his family, who had immigrated from West Africa. The fundraiser goal has been set to $120,000, of which over $38,000 has been raised so far.

The GoFundMe account was created on Thursday, May 25, nearly three weeks later the viral bike-sharing dispute in New York City. Sarah Comrie, a six months pregnant physician assistant at NYC’s Bellevue Hospital, accused a group of teens of heckling her over a rented bike. However, she was accused by some netizens of weaponizing her whiteness at the expense of Black people and playing the victim card.

The organizer of the fundraiser wrote that they were assisting the family of the 17-year-old teen whom Sarah Comrie falsely accused. Sarah’s supporters and the right-leaning media had propagated the narrative that the physician was the victim and had worked diligently to defame the Black teen and his acquaintances.

However, the teen’s mother said that they are immigrants and poor people who cannot afford a lawyer. Moreover, nobody was willing to help them on top of it all. The fundraiser has started to help the family retain legal representation.

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Sarah Comrie's lawyer says she had receipts for the Citi Bike

The viral footage showed a heated encounter between Sarah and the group of teens where they claimed to have paid for the bike Sarah was on at the docking station. She could be heard yelling for help and telling the teens to get off her. The teen, whose name has not been disclosed, kept his grip on the bike's handlebars and repeated to Sarah Comrie that he already paid for that particular bike and it was not hers.

Halfway through the clip, Sarah appeared to start crying when her colleague approached the melee. When the teen again claimed that the bike was booked from his account, she moved and rented another Citi bike on her colleague’s advice.

Sarah Comrie’s lawyer, Justin Marino, said that after her 12-hour shift, Sarah got on an available rented bike that was not occupied by anyone and the physician also paid for the ride through the Citi Bike app. While backing it up from the station, a group of teens approached her and claimed that they rented the bike. Marino continued:

“One or more individuals in that group physically pushed her bike (with her on it) back into the docking station, causing it to re-lock.”

He added that another individual then covered the QR code on the bike, stopping Sarah from paying for it again. Marino claimed that while blocking the QR code, the individual’s arm touched Sarah’s pregnant belly, and she made them aware of her condition. He said:

“The fact anyone would treat another person like this is tragic, especially a visibly pregnant woman.”

Justin Marino presented two receipts from Sarah, which were from May 12, and timestamped only a few minutes apart, including the receipt for the bike in the viral video.

He stated that the first receipt showed that the Citi bike was paid for and taken out before being re-locked at the station one minute later. It was when the group of teens approached Sarah and stopped her from taking the bike, causing it to re-lock.

The second receipt allegedly showed that another Citi bike was rented and taken out from the same docking station a minute later. Marino claimed it was the bike Sarah took to reach home after being heckled and pressured by the group to find a new bike.

However, Sarah Comrie was labeled as a white "Karen" for playing the victim card with her tears and trying to shed a negative light on the black teen.