A man who was caught on a video appearing, along with his wife, to point guns at protesters marching through his St. Louis, Missouri neighborhood has spoken out, KMOV-TV reported.
On Sunday night, protesters marched through the wealthy, gated St. Louis neighborhood where Mayor Lyda Krewson lives. The protest was put together by the group “Expect Us,” was advertised as a “call to action against the violence towards Black people,” according to HuffPost , and was organized to demand Krewson’s resignation, after she had previously read aloud the names of police-reform activists.
The protesters’ march took them past a home where the residents inside took exception to the group marching past. They emerged from their homes holding guns, including one that appeared to be a semi-automatic rifle and another, a pistol. At certain points, the couple could be seen saying things to the protesters and even pointing their weapons at them.
The homeowner, who was not identified, reached out to KMOV-TV to give his side of the story, saying that the “mob” of approximately 100 people had smashed through the gate protecting the historic neighborhood.
“[They] rushed towards my home where my family was having dinner outside and put us in fear of our lives. This is all private property. There are no public sidewalks or public streets. We were told that we would be killed, our home burned and our dog killed. We were all alone facing an angry mob,” he said.
It was at least the second time over the weekend in which guns came into play at protests in Missouri.
As Springfield’s KY3 reported, in the town of Eminence, about 100 people from the area and even cities as far away as Springfield and Joplin, converged on the town carrying guns in order to “protect” it. This took place after Shannon County Sheriff Darrin Brawley asked for help because he believed “credible” threats had been made against him, his deputies, and his facility, in relation to a planned protest.
One townsperson said he wanted to protect the community from a riot.
No riot took place, and indeed, there was no violence or even name-calling in the town that day.
Back in St. Louis, Krewson is facing calls for her resignation in response to an incident in which she held a Facebook Live meeting where she discussed calls for police reform in the city. During the meeting, she read portions of letters she’d received, and then read the names of the letter writers and even parts of their addresses.
