Word of warning: if you stand outside your mansion wielding an assault-style rifle at a group of peaceful protestors – you will be filmed, you will be posted all over the Internet, and you will become an overnight meme. It’s a lesson that a Missouri couple – now dubbed ‘Ken and Karen’ – have learned over the past 24 hours. Hear all the details below:
Yesterday, footage emerged of the couple – whose real names are Mark and Patricia McCloskey – and it didn’t take long for it to go viral, earn an unsurprising retweet from President Donald Trump and birth countless memes.
Some Twitter users compared ‘Ken and Karen’ to TV and movie characters – including those of Quentin Tarantino and Ozark.
Others were, sadly, reminded of the recent antics of other ‘Karens’.
Last week, the internet was left dumbfounded by these ridiculous excuses for not wearing a COVID-19 face mask from a Palm Beach County community meeting – including “[Masks] throw God’s wonderful breathing system out the door” and “How will children be able to know who the dangerous deviants are?”
And what about all the other ‘Karen’ compilations floating around social media? In them, bystanders are hurled abused and some are even coughed on by the subject of their videos.
In an ironic twist of events, the Daily Mail reports that ‘Ken and Karen’ are both personal injury lawyers and Mark McCloskey had “previously represented a victim of police brutality.” Speaking about the case back in March, McCloskey said, “I’m glad that the law enforcement agencies are subject to the same standard as everybody else.
Amidst heightened racial tensions, protests against police brutality, and a global pandemic resulting in growing numbers of deaths in the US – it’s no surprise these kinds of videos, and the ‘Karens’ and ‘Kens’ in them, are going viral.
Unfortunately, it’s just a reflection of our new reality. We can only hope that by exposing violent behaviour, and keeping the conversation going, real change can occur.
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