Billionaires in the Hamptons are hiring armed guards to protect them from protesters

• Wealthy Hamptons residents are reportedly hiring armed guards for protection as protests continue to sweep the East End.
• On Wednesday, demonstrators took to the Hamptons to protest the rising inequality rates in the United States.
• According to Charlie McArdle, cofounder of CM Security Consulting, some residents began hiring guards in March as unemployment numbers began to rise, fearing burglars.

Ultrawealthy residents of the Hamptons are hiring armed guards to protect themselves and their properties as protests sweep through the area, Page Six's Jennifer Gould reports.

On Wednesday, Page Six's Tamar Lapin reported that demonstrations had broken out in the Hamptons, as people began to protest the rising inequality rates in the United States. As Business Insider previously reported, wealthy city dwellers fled their respective cities at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, with many hiding out in their second homes — or in lavish rentals — on the East End.

Over 300 people showed up to the July 1 protest, many of whom began chanting "tax the rich, not the poor," outside of Mike Bloomberg's $20 million Southhampton mansion, Lapin reported. The protesters were asking for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to raise taxes on the billionaires in New York State, to help make up for the economic crisis the pandemic has plunged the nation into.

Many, according to Lapin, were also upset that Cuomo suggested cutting school, hospital, and housing agency state funding by 20%.

Now, Gould reports that Hamptons residents are finding themselves increasingly uneasy after the demonstrations

Charlie McArdle, cofounder of CM Security Consulting, told Gould that his business has seen a massive uptick in interested clients since the protests, as wealthy people look to hire security guards to protect their families and property this Fourth of July weekend.

"My clients range from the one-percenters to people who are concerned about the political climate and what's going on today," McArdle told the outlet.

CM Security Consulting is currently servicing 16 residential properties in the Hamptons, almost half of which are billionaire enclaves, according to McArdle.

"The calls came in as soon as the shut down started, in March," he told Gould. "People started thinking ahead and added security. They were worried about burglaries as unemployment soared and then they started worrying about protecting their property from protesters."