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In an exclusive interview with NewsOne, the 17-year-old who refused to give up his bike to Sarah Jane Comrie said she's been rewarded for her antics while he and his family are suffering.

Mary and Michael are eager to talk to me, but Betty, their mother, is reluctant to let Michael speak with anyone.
Hes only 17 years old. Hes my baby, Betty says.

Hes a senior in high school. He should be planning to attend his prom and looking forward to walking the stage at his graduation in a few weeks, but instead, he and his family have spent the last week and a half living in turmoil.

Michael is the teen in the infamous Citi Bike video with Sarah Jane Comrie, the woman who has been accused of weaponizing whiteness and her tears in an effort to take the bike from the teen in New York City.
Betty has seen video after video of racists and trolls calling her son a thug and a thief and labeling him as a man when, in her words, Hes just a boy.

It hurts her that people are saying these things things that she knows are not true about him.

Hes only 17. He doesnt deserve to be going through this.

Betty is upset because she says the narrative has been one-sided.

No one bothered to contact us to find out Michaels story, she said in a low voice during an interview on Wednesday. They write all of these things about him, but no one bothered to ask him what happened or look at his receipts.

Michael interjected: Thats because if they have my side of the story, she doesnt have a case.

Mary agreed with him, saying, Right.

Throughout the entire 50-minute interview with Betty and her children, she had her phone out watching video after video of conservatives and racists saying negative things about her baby.
She is afraid that someone will try to harm her son or her family.
No one is helping us, she said, her voice cracking. We are poor people. We are immigrants. We cant afford a lawyer.

Mary, who is 24, and Michael told their mother that now is their chance to tell his story. Betty agreed only on the condition that their names are changed to protect their identities.

I dont want anything to happen to my family, Betty said. Do you know what I mean?

A Bronx tale
Mary and Michael live with their parents and another brother in an apartment in the Bronx.
Mary and Michael were born in the U.S., but their parents are immigrants from West Africa.
Mary, her other brother and both parents work to help contribute to the family income.

We live in the Bronx, but my brother spends a lot of time in Harlem, Mary said. He has friends there.

On May 12, the date of the incident, Michael and four other teenagers rode bikes from the Bronx to Harlem.

My brother is an extreme Citi Bike rider, Mary said proudly. He is in a group called Citi Bike Angels that sends out free stuff to people who have accumulated a certain amount of points, and my brother has been a frequent Citi Bike rider since 2020 or 2021.

Michael said its a regular routine with him and his friends. They meet up in the Bronx, find the new e-bikes Citi Bike has out, and ride them all over New York City.

Understanding how Citi Bike works

I use Citi Bike every day, Michael said. I use the bikes to get to and from school. If Im traveling anywhere in the city, even if its from here to Brooklyn, my first option is Citi Bike.

Its my preferred mode of transport. Its like my car, he added.

Michael said he and his friends, who are all from immigrant West African families, understand Citi Bike and all its programs. They use them because, for teenagers like themselves, its a cheaper option than taking the subway from borough to borough.

Michael said that day they walked around the Bronx for 20 minutes before they found the highly coveted but hard-to-find new e-bikes.

They took the bikes to Harlem first, where they stopped riding after 45 minutes.

My parents are immigrants. My mom doesnt know what to do. She cant handle any of this.

Michael explained that because his family receives some public assistance, he gets a discount on Citi Bike rides, but after 45 minutes, the rate on the bikes increases.

Michael said he pays for his own Citi Bike account, and in order to avoid the higher charges, he frequently stops his rides before they go over 45 minutes to rest and re-dock the bike. Re-docking the bike resets the timer, allowing him to ride for another 45 minutes before stopping again.

Even regular Citi Bike riders do this, Mary explained. The price goes up after 45 minutes for everyone, so people routinely ride their bikes, dock their bikes, ride their bikes, and dock their bikes again.

The encounter with Sarah Jane Comrie

Michael said after resting in Harlem for a bit, the boys continued riding into the Lower East Side of Manhattan. They grabbed frozen yogurt and then headed to the Citi Bike docking station at 1st Avenue and E 30th Street near Bellevue Hospital in the Kips Bay neighborhood. They docked their bikes at 7:19 p.m. and sat there to rest.

Michael insisted he and his friends never left the bikes unattended. They dont leave the bikes. Michael said all four of his friends also have the same Citi Bike Reduced Fare membership, so they docked the bikes to stop the timers from going over 45 minutes.

Four of the boys were sitting on their bikes as they rested, but Michael was standing next to his with his hands on the handlebars.

They were there for a few minutes when he said Sarah Jane Comrie approached their group. She initially asked one of Michaels friends if she could take the bike he was resting on. He politely declined, informing her that they were going to be leaving shortly and using the bikes again.

People started calling me a thief, a thug, and a Black man.

She next approached a different boy in the group and asked him the same thing. That boy also politely declined.

Michael was still standing near his bike with his hands on the handlebars.

According to Michael, Sarah Jane Comrie asked him, Can I please have this bike?

Michael said he declined.

No, Im about to take it back out, he told her.

Michael said Sarah Jane Comrie then said to him, Im pregnant. Can you help a pregnant woman out?

Michael said he then told her, Im sorry maam. Ive ridden this bike all the way from the Bronx, and I need this bike to go back home.

Michael says that is when Sarah Jane Comrie moved closer to him and his bike, leaned over him, and scanned the QR code with her phone even as he had his hands on the handlebars.
She then pushed her way onto the bike and attempted to remove it from the docking station and take it.

It was 7:24 p.m., and that is when the boys began recording.
You can hear them in the video calling for someone to record Sarah Jane Comrie at the beginning of the footage.

You know if someone is using something, Mary interjected emphatically. There are obvious physical cues to let you know when something is in use or someone is planning to use something.

Michael insisted Sarah Jane Comrie knew he was planning to use the bike. He said she asked him and his friends to use theirs, and they all informed her they were using the bikes and would be leaving shortly.

We are poor people. We are immigrants. We cant afford a lawyer.

He said she seemed annoyed that they wouldnt willingly give up their bikes to her. He also said he believes she wanted that bike as opposed to the others that remained docked in the rack because he had one of the newer e-bikes.

https://newsone.com/4592993/sarah-jane-comrie-update-citi-bike-teens-mother-speaks-out/