Over the weekend, a couple–dubbed “Karen & Ken” by the internet–chose to brandish firearms at a large group of peaceful protesters walking by their extravagant home.
A couple pointed guns at protesters in St. Louis as a group marched toward the mayor’s home to demand her resignation. https://t.co/5EqDd43QCd pic.twitter.com/KWNaif77ch
— ABC News (@ABC) June 29, 2020
The protesters were walking to the home of the city’s mayor, Lyda Krewson, who made the heinous decision to dox some of her constituents earlier in the weekend. During a Facebook Live event, she read letters from activists criticizing her refusal to defund the city’s police department, including their names and addresses. This weekend, activists protesting a statue of Louis IX also clashed with white supremacists until the two groups were separated by the police.
What I’m saying is that protesters had a lot going on this weekend in St. Louis and they clearly couldn’t have cared less about these two people’s tacky mansion.
If you’re following the “Ken and Karen” story in St. Louis at all, this is the LITERAL GILDED AGE MANSION they were “protecting” at gunpoint, on a private street designed expressly for segregation, a stone’s throw from the infamous Delmar Divide.https://t.co/V5aHoVZizI
— Ian Bogost (@ibogost) June 29, 2020
Twitter had a field day with these two.
Everybody freeze, this is a multi-level marketing scheme pic.twitter.com/iiu3mKaakl
— Alex Halpern (@HalpernAlex) June 29, 2020
Look at these Kohl’s blooded killers pic.twitter.com/wdqv8JxdEQ
— Jess Dweck (@TheDweck) June 29, 2020
Omg who did this?! 😂 STL Ken and Karen pic.twitter.com/z7fSsjSvVh
— Daniel (@DailyLibber) June 29, 2020
Just saw the gun couple photos. I guess my main question is: who moved the palace of Versailles to Missouri?
— Maggie Serota (@maggieserota) June 29, 2020
In addition to pointing their guns at protesters–which is a crime–they both seem to lose track of their firearms and appear to casually and repeatedly point them at each other. Yet despite their obvious disregard for gun safety, the video also got a lot of attention from those supporting them for “protecting” themselves against people literally just walking down their street. Video of them screaming at the protesters was even retweeted by Donald Trump.
The neighborhood is reportedly a gated historical district and according to a police report (in which Ken and Karen here are listed as the victims), their street has “no trespassing” signs at its entrance. And we all know how many people see trespassing and the threat (not even the reality!) of property damage as being a crime worthy having an assault rifle pointed at you.
FOR GOD’S SAKE PEOPLE THERE WERE NONVIOLENT BLACK MARCHERS IN THE STREET OF COURSE KEN AND KAREN NEEDED AN AR-15 TO PROTECT THEIR NOT-PRESENT-AT-THE-SCENE FAMILY & BY THE WAY RACISM IS A MYTH https://t.co/qNGJREYAMT
— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) June 29, 2020
Donald Trump is the president currently. https://t.co/CYy23Y6REj
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) June 29, 2020
In addition to being highly memeable, the Ken & Karen situation is terrifying. Their actual names, as quickly uncovered by the internet, are Mark and Patricia McCloskey and they are personal injury attorneys. Patricia is a member of the Missouri Bar Association ethical review panel and a St. Louis city committee woman. Mark has represented a victim of police brutality. It would be incredibly naive to think that the views so clearly on display in that video don’t make their way into their work.
The problem with Ken and Karen is not that they had guns pointed at protestors, it’s that they’re lawyers. Why is this a problem? Because their actions and views can be transferred into their work and the decisions they make if people of color are involved.THIS IS SYSTEMIC RACISM
— Malynda Hale (@MalyndaHale) June 29, 2020
The McCloskeys would like to convince us that they care about the Black Lives Matter movement. They just cared more about a gate. Here is an actual statement made by their lawyer, via St. Louis Today:
“Their entire practice tenure as counsel (has) been addressing the needs of the downtrodden, for whom the fight for civil rights is necessary,” Watkins said. “My clients, as melanin-deficient human beings, are completely respectful of the message Black Lives Matter needs to get out, especially to whites … (but) two individuals exhibited such force and violence destroying a century-plus old wrought iron gate, ripping and twisting the wrought iron that was connected to a rock foundation, and then proceeded to charge at and toward and speak threateningly to Mr. and Mrs. McCloskey.”
Melanin. Deficient. As if this whole scenario couldn’t get any worse.
The fact that Ken and Karen have not been arrested for illegally pointing guns at people, and people defending them are using the “I’m white and I say so law”, further proves how illegitimate the “system of law & order” is. Laws enforced based on race are illegitimate.
— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) June 29, 2020
(image: screencap)
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