Meet “Karen & Ken,” the St. Louis Lawyers Who Pointed Guns at Peaceful Protesters

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.

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.

Twitter had a field day with these two.

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.

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 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.

(image: screencap)
Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com

Author

Close

Vivian Kane

Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.

twitter