Media Turned Random Metro Rider Into Civil Rights Icon — Then Her Rap Sheet Surfaced
A Reuters photograph showing a black woman seated alone on a Washington Metro train surrounded by masked members of a white nationalist group on July 4 went viral, then commentators started looking up the rap sheet connected to her.
The image, captured by freelance photographer Cheney Orr, spread widely across social media after Patriot Front members boarded Metro trains following a demonstration, according to the New York Post. Hundreds of masked men wearing Patriot Front’s signature khaki pants, blue shirts and white face coverings visited the capital to parade with American and Confederate flags, the outlet reported. The photo appeared to show the woman looking visibly uncomfortable near multiple members.
The woman in the now-viral photograph has since been identified as 33-year-old Bernita Bowlding, a mother of two children, by her brother, Paul Bowlding, The Washington Post reported. People have compared the image to photos that emerged during the civil rights movement of the 1960s or employed it to attack racism in the U.S. today, according to the outlet.
According to Virginia General District Court records for the Arlington County District Court, she was arrested in 2024 on an indecent exposure charge stemming from an incident. Court records show the case was later dismissed without prejudice. Footage circulating online appears to show the incident took place on a Washington Meteropolitan Area Transit Authority train.
A booking photo from Arlington County and obtained by Mugshots Zone appears to show the same woman in the photograph and footage.
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 04: Members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front ride the Washington Metro on July 04, 2026 in Washington, DC. Numerous events, activities, and fireworks are planned in celebration of America’s 250th Anniversary. (Photo by Finn Gomez/Getty Images)
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Her rap sheet also includes three charges in Fairfax County in 2023. Bowlding was charged with destruction of property on a monument in April 2023, failure to appear for a misdemeanor in September 2023 and petit larceny in December 2023, according to court records. The records display the same date of birth and name. (RELATED: Texas Dem Boasts On Video He Got Bandmate With Lengthy Criminal Rap Sheet ‘Out Of Jail’)
The April 2023 and September 2023 charges were finalized as nolle prosequi, meaning the prosecutor decided to not move forward with the case, the records show. The December 2023 charge is filed as “Guilty in Absentia,” meaning that Bowlding was tried and convicted of a crime without physically being present in the courtroom, with her facing a $300 fine, according to the records.
Patriot Front explicitly targets race in its online manifesto. “Our nation is European in racial character and thus all Americans, either native or naturalized, are members of the European race,” it claims.
“The elements of nationhood, and the natural distinctions between sexes and races are intrinsic and undeniable,” the manifesto further claims.
The Daily Caller reached out to the Arlington County Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney for comment.
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