Gun-toting Karen and Ken spawn a thousand memes after pointing weapons at protesters
A middle-aged white couple in St. Louis thought it prudent to point guns at unarmed, largely peaceful protesters.
As a wise sage, once said: "Each day on twitter there is one main character. The goal is to never be it." The gun-toting couple quickly morphed into Twitter's main characters of the day on Sunday and that continues today.
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According to the Associated Press, at least 500 protesters in St. Louis, Missouri were marching to Mayor Lyda Krewson's house on Sunday, demanding her resignation after she publicly read the names and addresses of a number of people who asked her to defund police.
The couple, dubbed Karen and Ken by the internet, came out of their mansion wielding firearms. The woman pointed a handgun at protesters, the man a long rifle. The woman even seemed to place her finger on the trigger. What sure seemed like an unnecessary act of aggression quickly got memed like crazy on the internet.
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The couple in the videos and photos later identified themselves as Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who own a massive mansion in the private neighborhood protesters walked through. McCloskey told a local station protesters broke down a gate to gain access to the private street and provided photos to that effect. There was a widely circulated video online show at least some protesters walking through an open gate.
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"A mob of at least 100 smashed through the historic wrought iron gates of Portland Place, destroying them, rushed towards my home where my family was having dinner outside and put us in fear for our lives," Mark McCloskey told KMOV.
While folks online were quick to criticize the couple pointing weapons at protesters, President Donald Trump amplified the incident without really commenting on it. He retweeted a video from ABC News that didn't really take a stance on the matter.
Thankfully, no shots were fired by the couple and the protest was peaceful.
UPDATE: June 30, 2020, 9:29 a.m. EDT This post was updated to include further details from an interview given by Mark McCloskey.
UPDATE: June 29, 2020, 3:34 p.m. EDT In an interview with local news station KSDK, the gun-toting husband — identified as Mark McCloskey — claimed he and his wife Patricia confronted the protesters because they were acting in a threatening manner.
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Tim Marcin is an Associate Editor on the culture team at Mashable, where he mostly digs into the weird parts of the internet. You'll also see some coverage of memes, tech, sports, trends, and the occasional hot take. You can find him on Bluesky (sometimes), Instagram (infrequently), or eating Buffalo wings (as often as possible).
