White St. Louis couple point guns at protesters heading past their home to mayor’s house

[cigaretteman]

A white couple pointed guns at protesters in St. Louis as a group marched toward the mayor's home to demand her resignation after she read the names and addresses of several residents who supported defunding the police department during an online briefing.


A social media video showed the armed couple standing outside of their large home Sunday evening in the upscale Central West End neighborhood of the Missouri city.

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In the video, the unidentified couple shouted at protesters, while people in the march moved the crowd forward, urging participants to ignore them. People in the crowd included Black and white protesters.

It wasn't immediately clear whether St. Louis police were aware of the incident. An email and phone call from The Associated Press to police weren't immediately answered.

The group of at least 500 people was heading toward Mayor Lyda Krewson’s home, chanting, “Resign Lyda, take the cops with you,” news outlets reported.



Resignation demands come after a Friday Facebook Live briefing, where Krewson read the names and addresses of several residents who wrote letters to the mayor suggesting she defund the police department.
The video was removed from Facebook and Krewson apologized Friday, stating she didn't "intend to cause distress."

The names and letters are considered public records but Krewson’s actions received heavy backlash.

Protesters nationwide have been pushing to " defund the police " following the death of George Floyd and other Black people killed by law enforcement. Floyd, who was in handcuffs, died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes.

Krewson, a white longtime alderwoman, was elected as St. Louis’ first female mayor in April 2017 by pledging to work to reduce crime and improve impoverished neighborhoods. She and her two young children were in the car in front of their home in 1995 when her husband, Jeff, was slain during a random carjacking attempt.

Homicides have spiked in recent years in St. Louis, which annually ranks among the most violent cities in the nation based on FBI statistics.

An online petition calling for Krewson’s resignation had about more than 43,000 signatures as of early Monday.

“As a leader, you don’t do stuff like that ... it’s only right that we visit her at her home,” said state Rep. Rasheen Aldridge, D-St. Louis, speaking into a megaphone at the protest Sunday.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/midw...0200629-rlyrtkk7avcwbeos47gidmv34u-story.html

 

[SSG T]

Let's see, his AR selector is on "Semi/Fire", their trigger discipline sucks, they flagged each other and the crowd about 20 times, just in the video. They both need to have their guns taken away, at least until they learn how to safely handle them. It's pretty close to a miracle that one of them didn't accidently fire their weapon.

That's not even bringing up that she's holding the pistol like she's never held a pistol before.

 

[goldmom]

Let's see, his AR selector is on "Semi/Fire", their trigger discipline sucks, they flagged each other and the crowd about 20 times, just in the video. They both need to have their guns taken away, at least until they learn how to safely handle them. It's pretty close to a miracle that one of them didn't accidently fire their weapon.

That's not even bringing up that she's holding the pistol like she's never held a pistol before.

Oh no! She's doing it wrong...good thing! I wouldn't know that because I don't own a gun...
Interesting that the fact that these people crashed the gate to get in and were trespassing is ignored. Given recent events I can't imagine why they felt the need to be pro-active in defending their property.

 

[An Iowa fan]

Tell the whole story.

The mob was not on a public street. They were on private property. They broke through a perimeter gate.

 

[SSG T]

Oh no! She's doing it wrong...good thing! I wouldn't know that because I don't own a gun...
Interesting that the fact that these people crashed the gate to get in and were trespassing is ignored. Given recent events I can't imagine why they felt the need to be pro-active in defending their property.

I honestly don't care if they were out there, on their own property, doing that. My problem with it is that neither one appear to have any clue how to handle weapons. In that environment and a complete lack of familiarity in gun handling, bad things are pretty likely, even accidently. Like I said, it's nothing short of a miracle they didn't accidently discharge a weapon.

 

[Rudolph]

Oh no! She's doing it wrong...good thing! I wouldn't know that because I don't own a gun...
Interesting that the fact that these people crashed the gate to get in and were trespassing is ignored. Given recent events I can't imagine why they felt the need to be pro-active in defending their property.

Lol.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

Oh no! She's doing it wrong...good thing! I wouldn't know that because I don't own a gun...
Interesting that the fact that these people crashed the gate to get in and were trespassing is ignored. Given recent events I can't imagine why they felt the need to be pro-active in defending their property.

Trespassing is not a good reason to brandish a lethal weapon.

 

[goldmom]

I honestly don't care if they were out there, on their own property, doing that. My problem with it is that neither one appear to have any clue how to handle weapons. In that environment and a complete lack of familiarity in gun handling, bad things are pretty likely, even accidently. Like I said, it's nothing short of a miracle they didn't accidently discharge a weapon.

Yep. Good for the protesters, who created that "environment" too.

 

[goldmom]

Trespassing is not a good reason to brandish a lethal weapon.

Oh. Is there a list of "good" reasons? Just the ones that pertain to defending one's own property, of course.

 

[Pinehawk]

Oh. Is there a list of "good" reasons? Just the ones that pertain to defending one's own property, of course.

Their property didn't need defending, they were under no threat. They certainly did not need to aggressively and recklessly brandish weapons.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

Oh no! She's doing it wrong...good thing! I wouldn't know that because I don't own a gun...
Interesting that the fact that these people crashed the gate to get in and were trespassing is ignored. Given recent events I can't imagine why they felt the need to be pro-active in defending their property.

Also I'm not seeing anything about them crashing a gate.

 

[Black Lab Hawk]

Their property didn't need defending, they were under no threat. They certainly did not need to aggressively and recklessly brandish weapons.

The protestors breaking down the gate and trespassing didn’t seem like any threat? How about the claims of the protestors shouting that they would kill them? No threat?

 

[SSG T]

Yep. Good for the protesters, who created that "environment" too.

I'm not excusing the protestors, and I don't care if people are on their own property with guns defending their own property. The idea that completely untrained people can walk around waving a gun they obviously have no clue how to use, however, is offensive to me. It's not like those two don't have enough money to learn how to handle the weapons properly.

You been around long enough to have noticed that I don't call for gun bans, buybacks, or anything of the like. I do however, consistently call for required gun training, background checks, licensing and registrations. The most important of those being the training. These two need to get the training before the accidently shoot someone, like each other. They both, at least once, pointed guns not on safe at each others heads with their fingers on the trigger. That's stupid and shows complete inexperience with a weapon.

If you are willing to excuse that because the bad people were walking past their house when they shouldn't have been, good for you. I'm not willing to excuse that, because they are dumb and unsafe for doing it. And yes, in this particular circumstance, they are FAR more unsafe than the protestors.

 

[goldmom]

Their property didn't need defending, they were under no threat. They certainly did not need to aggressively and recklessly brandish weapons.

Oh, so you were there? Great! Always good to have an eyewitness account.

 

[HawksR1]

Trespassing is not a good reason to brandish a lethal weapon.

You serious Clark??

 

[goldmom]

Also I'm not seeing anything about them crashing a gate.

It was a GATED community. They breached the perimeters.

 

[Rudolph]

Oh. Is there a list of "good" reasons? Just the ones that pertain to defending one's own property, of course.

Yeah except their dumbasses now might be targets for who knows what. Defending one’s property? Lol. More like a dumb display of dumbassery. They weren’t defending their property. They were making a statement, a type of class warfare posturing. I hope those sad turds sleep in fear. Dumbasses.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

Oh. Is there a list of "good" reasons? Just the ones that pertain to defending one's own property, of course.

Considering that the brandishing of a lethal weapon is an implicit threat to take another person's life I would say the only good reasons are defense of lives. Not property.

 

[An Iowa fan]

Also I'm not seeing anything about them crashing a gate.

https://www.kmov.com/news/we-were-i...cle_afbb1b2c-b98e-11ea-ba7e-b3452007bfc8.html

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

It was a GATED community. They breached the perimeters.

I don't see anything in the news saying it's a gated community. Just that it's a very upscale community and the home they own is like the most lavish in the city. Which makes sense because no one wants to keep black people in their place more than rich white people.

 

[goldmom]

I'm not excusing the protestors, and I don't care if people are on their own property with guns defending their own property. The idea that completely untrained people can walk around waving a gun they obviously have no clue how to use, however, is offensive to me. It's not like those two don't have enough money to learn how to handle the weapons properly.

You been around long enough to have noticed that I don't call for gun bans, buybacks, or anything of the like. I do however, consistently call for required gun training, background checks, licensing and registrations. The most important of those being the training. These two need to get the training before the accidently shoot someone, like each other. They both, at least once, pointed guns not on safe at each others heads with their fingers on the trigger. That's stupid and shows complete inexperience with a weapon.

If you are willing to excuse that because the bad people were walking past their house when they shouldn't have been, good for you. I'm not willing to excuse that, because they are dumb and unsafe for doing it. And yes, in this particular circumstance, they are FAR more unsafe than the protestors.

We agree more than we disagree. I'm not familiar with Missouri law as to requirements for firearms training.
Properly trained and licensed fans of the 2nd Amendment don't necessarily scare me. But I'm also not sure that these folks weren't triggered (pun alert) by the coverage they've seen or read, including the unchecked behavior of some protesters. The mere fact that these people didn't respect the gate up front is an indicator that these folks aren't the most law abiding citizens around.

 

[Black Lab Hawk]

I don't see anything in the news saying it's a gated community. Just that it's a very upscale community and the home they own is like the most lavish in the city. Which makes sense because no one wants to keep black people in their place more than rich white people.

It was a private road in a gated community.

 

[goldmom]

I don't see anything in the news saying it's a gated community. Just that it's a very upscale community and the home they own is like the most lavish in the city. Which makes sense because no one wants to keep black people in their place more than rich white people.

Really? I don't think their home is the "most lavish" in St. Louis. Also - Do you have proof of your last statement? Or are you referring to Beverly Hills residents who had their city officials ban all protests inside their city limits? Lots of rich folks there...all telling the rest of us we need to be as woke as they pretend to be?

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

https://www.kmov.com/news/we-were-i...cle_afbb1b2c-b98e-11ea-ba7e-b3452007bfc8.html

Ok thank you.

I don't buy their claims that they where scared though. Like I said if you are scared you hunker down and fortify. You don't run outside to face them.

Now maybe they were mad about their gate being broken and that's fine, but they were not scared.

 

[goldmom]

Ok thank you.

I don't buy their claims that they where scared though. Like I said if you are scared you hunker down and fortify. You don't run outside to face them.

Now maybe they were mad about their gate being broken and that's fine, but they were not scared.

How do you know?

 

[Legend12]

Ok thank you.

I don't buy their claims that they where scared though. Like I said if you are scared you hunker down and fortify. You don't run outside to face them.

Now maybe they were mad about their gate being broken and that's fine, but they were not scared.

Maybe they left others in the house to hunker down and fortify while they let the armed protesters know they might not have the biggest gun in the fight.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

How do you know?

Because if you are scared logic does not say to go out and meet the danger in an area that you have less control. It says stay in an area were you can exercise the most control. If I'm scared I'm going to move my family into one room that has one entrance and my wife and I will point our guns at that door and shoot anything that comes through. I'm not running out there to meet them if they for some reason decide to start destroying our cars.

 

[tarheelbybirth]

LOL...they're personal injury lawyers brandishing weapons they don't know how to use.

 

[tarheelbybirth]

...the armed protesters...

Do you have evidence for this beyond the claims of the couple?

 

[Pepperman]

Ok thank you.

I don't buy their claims that they where scared though. Like I said if you are scared you hunker down and fortify. You don't run outside to face them.

Now maybe they were mad about their gate being broken and that's fine, but they were not scared.

How can you say this? You don’t know what was happening. In fact, you opined a few times already without knowing this was a gated community. You also have the benefit of hindsight here, but imagine what they’re thinking in real time if you can? An angry mob is storming through your neighborhood. Any of the people could have weapons, incendiary devices, etc.

 

[doughuddl2]

Also I'm not seeing anything about them crashing a gate.

St Louis Post Dispatch story reports they broke down a gate and observed some of the protesters were armed.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

How can you say this? You don’t know what was happening. In fact, you opined a few times already without knowing this was a gated community. You also have the benefit of hindsight here, but imagine what they’re thinking in real time if you can? An angry mob is storming through your neighborhood. Any of the people could have weapons, incendiary devices, etc.

If an angry mob is coming through my neighborhood and I don't have time to leave or move to another home (My brother, my parents and I all live nearby and we would likely fortify in one home together if given the time.) then I would hunker down and barracade my own home. I am sure as heck not going outside. Not unless someone actually sets fire to the home or threatens to.

 

[Rudolph]

Maybe they left others in the house to hunker down and fortify while they let the armed protesters know they might not have the biggest gun in the fight.

Pointing and waving is not a demonstration of means to defend. It’s an invitation to wage conflict. They were doing a show of force thing. As we grapple with extreme inequality and concentration of wealth, that couple just became a poster of our times, made themselves emblematic of a society faltering towards collapse, and, quite likely, a target for some type of act of repudiation.

 

[Black Lab Hawk]

If an angry mob is coming through my neighborhood and I don't have time to leave or move to another home (My brother, my parents and I all live nearby and we would likely fortify in one home together if given the time.) then I would hunker down and barracade my own home. I am sure as heck not going outside. Not unless someone actually sets fire to the home or threatens to.

This wasn’t you in the story, right? This was someone else, I’m sure.

 

[artradley]

Let's see, his AR selector is on "Semi/Fire", their trigger discipline sucks, they flagged each other and the crowd about 20 times, just in the video. They both need to have their guns taken away, at least until they learn how to safely handle them. It's pretty close to a miracle that one of them didn't accidently fire their weapon.

That's not even bringing up that she's holding the pistol like she's never held a pistol before.

Yeah, as little as I've handled guns I was struck by how poorly they handled theirs. I am surprised the wife didn't shoot her husband a couple times the way she held that thing and waved it around. She looked like a Victorian maiden flirting with her hankie!

 

[gonegolfing]

Hopefully everyone one of those lawbreakers is arrested.

 

[markfromj]

Relevance of their race?

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

St Louis Post Dispatch story reports they broke down a gate and observed some of the protesters were armed.

Fair enough. . . and I really detest protesters arming themselves. Even if you don't hurt anyone or break anything while protesting you are still not engaging in a peaceful protest, you are trying to intimidate people. And that applies to these protesters as well.

But like I said, if you are scared you hunker down.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

This wasn’t you in the story, right? This was someone else, I’m sure.

No it wasn't me. Introducing guns into the mix is only going to escalate things, not de-escalate them. So I'm going to only introduce them if things are escalated to life/death.

 

[JupiterHawk]

Kind of played into the hands of the protesters. When we use to ring and run, we always went back to the place that had a reaction. The owner of said house was known as Mr. F

They looked liked idiots with pointing their freaken guns at protesters and that action alone could have resulted in escalation from protesters.