- On Sunday, Shane Meyers protested alone in the affluent white suburb of Wellington, Florida.
- While on the street corner, Meyers was reported to the authorities by a "
Karen ," what's become common internet slang for an entitled white woman, who took issue with his sign. - Meyers filmed his encounter with local law enforcement and later shared it in a viral TikTok, leading many to praise his activism on social media.
Just after 6 p.m. on Sunday, Shane Meyers was staging a peaceful, one-man protest in the affluent white suburb of Wellington, Florida when indie rapper AngieonMars spotted him on the corner of Forest Hill Blvd and U.S. route 441 with a sign that read "black lives f-cking matter." Taking out her phone and rolling down her window, Angie filmed a TikTok as she passed by in a car.
"All it takes is one," she called to a smiling Meyers. "Thank you, God bless."
It was a sweet moment, but it didn't last. As Meyers would go on to show in a TikTok of his own, he was approached shortly thereafter by a white woman who reported him to the police for "inciting riots."
@shanemeyers1 They say they want peaceful protests, but what they mean is they want us to be quiet ##BLM
♬ original sound - carneyval_
When two officers arrived on the scene, Meyers began to film the encounter. He later edited Angie's TikTok together with footage of his own.
"All this over a f-cking sign and now there are two police officers here," Meyers said in the clip, having just taken out his phone.
"The only reason there is two is because for our safety, we don't know what's going on," the officer explained.
Meyer then clarified that the woman who reported him — sarcastically referred to as "Karen" in an on-screen caption — approached him while he was standing on the side of the road.
"I said to him, I said, 'Excuse me, but could you please not put that sign out because it's gonna crank up the wrong people," the woman interjected. "I don't wanna be driving and have bullets shot at me because they're upset because you started it."
"He's allowed to stand here with a sign that says whatever he wants to say on it," the officer answered.
"I'm just upset because I don't want to get caught if they start rioting because of your sign," the woman argued.
"I'm also upset because black and brown lives are at risk every single day in this country," Meyers said.
At this point, the woman and the officer both interjected to insist that "everybody's lives are at risk," on "both sides."
The woman also took issue with the profanity used on Meyers' sign.
"Wow, the f-word, too?" she said. "I mean c'mon, little kids are reading that."
"I'm sorry if you're a snowflake and you can't handle —" Meyers shot back, before the clip cut off.
—Swagapinos 4 Black Power (@jonny_is_good) June 3, 2020
—Annabel Meschke (@annabel_meschke) June 3, 2020
A "Karen," per Insider's Kat Tenbarge, is a moniker used by the very online to describe entitled, white, middle-aged women who behave badly in public. "She tends to have a bob haircut and asks to speak to the manager, but these days, almost any woman could get lumped in."
The irony of the self-righteous "Karen" psychology is that, often, these women believe they are acting justly, or even nobly. Amy Cooper, the woman who called the police on a black man in Central Park on May 25, typified classic "Karen" antics.
Meyers declined to be interviewed for this story in an effort to center black voices.