TOPLINE
A group of St. Louis, Missouri, protesters encountered a white couple pointing guns at them as they marched to Mayor Lyda Krewson’s house in a Sunday night demonstration, which was captured on video and viewed millions of times on social media by Monday morning before being retweeted by President Trump.
KEY FACTS
The protesters were marching to demand Krewson’s resignation after she read on a Friday Facebook Live briefing the names and home addresses of constituents who wrote to her in support of defunding the police, even as commenters begged her to stop.
About 500 protesters were present Sunday night, according to the Washington Post, and chanted, “Resign, Lyda! Take the cops with you!” as they proceeded down a private gated street en route to Krewson’s home.
As the protesters passed by a five-story mansion, a white couple emerged holding guns; the man was carrying a rifle, while the woman held a handgun, her finger on the trigger.
The couple, whose identities have not yet been confirmed, were shouting at protesters while pointing the guns at them.
The interaction was caught on video and posted to Twitter:
A couple has come out of their house and is pointing guns at protesters in their neighborhood #StLouis #lydakrewson pic.twitter.com/ZJ8a553PAU
— Daniel Shular (@xshularx) June 29, 2020
Overnight, the video was viewed nearly 9 million times, and President Trump retweeted it Monday morning without any additional commentary.
here’s what happens when you march on Portland Place in St. Louis, MO
they’re scared of their own community pic.twitter.com/Ng8qW1Pa6C
— avery (@averyrisch) June 29, 2020
Big number
Nearly 43,000. That’s how many signatures a petition demanding Krewson’s resignation had by early Monday morning.
Key background
St. Louis has long struggled with tensions over policing and racial inequality, and is just over 11 miles from the city of Ferguson, where Michael Brown, a Black man, was fatally shot by police six years ago. St. Louis residents have been rallying for weeks since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the Post reported, with some protesters personally handing letters to Krewson demanding a local prison be shuttered and the police defunded. It was those letters Krewson read aloud from during her Friday Facebook Live briefing, and in addition to revealing constituents’ demands, she revealed their names and home addresses (an action referred to as “doxxing”), which drew swift backlash from local politicians and the Missouri chapter of the ACLU. The Sunday protesters, upon reaching Krewson’s home, painted the word “resign” on the street out front.
Chief critics
“As a leader, you don’t do stuff like that,” State Rep. Rasheen Aldridge told the protesters Sunday, referring to Krewson’s doxxing. “It’s only right that we visit her at her home.”
Further reading
St. Louis couple point guns at peaceful crowd of protesters calling for mayor to resign (Washington Post)
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