Well, it looks like SF "Karen" Lisa Alexander — the skincare CEO filmed scrutinizing a local man for writing "Black Lives Matter" outside his home earlier this month — has a male counterpart: this "Ken" named William Beasley who blocked a Latino man from entering his apartment complex Tuesday.
There sure does seem to be no shortage of smartphone-captured Karen (and Ken) behavior as of recent. These episodes of white entitlement and brazen ignorance continue fueling dialogues about racial injustices and birthright privileges, with the recent racist actions of a San Francisco male now attached to those conversations.
According to SFGate, Michael Barajas, a 28-year-old health professional and resident at the SOMA Residence apartment complex, was blocked from entering the building’s parking garage earlier this week after a white couple in an SUV pulled ahead of him. Titled with out-of-state license plates (from Florida; go figure), the driver and passenger later identified on social media as William Beasley was filmed verbally attacking Barajas, accusing him of "criminal” conduct.
"Hey you f–king criminal, you're not coming in here," Beasley says on the recorded video, stating Barajas didn't have a key fob to enter the apartment complex. "You're not coming into the f–king garage. I called the cops, so you got about five minutes to get out of here."
Alas, Barajas told Beasley he did, in fact, have a key fob multiple times throughout the interaction.
As ABC7 notes, Barajas was wearing almost all black in the video, with his arm tattoos showing — which Baraja believes, perhaps, led Beasley to think he was a threat. Nevertheless, the confrontation lasted north of 20 minutes and at one point escalated to physical violence; a bystander who smacked Beasley's white SUV and yelled for him to move was knocked to the ground.
Eventually, Beasley and a female passenger — she afterward saying to on-site ABC7 News photographer James Mann that Beasley "didn't know" Barajas lived at the complex — left the altercation and allowed Barajas to enter, though the damage was done. And recorded.
Per Newsweek, Allison Maxie, an SFPD spokeswoman, wrote in a statement to the outlet that officers were called to the apartment complex for a report of a battery.
"Officers met with a [the bystander thrown to the ground] who said that he saw a verbal argument ensuing between residents about entry into the building," she writes."The victim attempted to intervene and was assaulted by a male suspect. The suspect left the scene prior to police arrival." It was later mentioned that the male victim wouldn't press charges.
We have concluded our internal review of the incident with one of our internal employees. We have made the decision to terminate the employee, effective immediately. We will not tolerate violent or racist behavior of any kind at Apex Systems.
— Apex Systems (@ApexSystems) June 25, 2020
APEX Systems, where Beasley was employed, said in a tweet that they've conducted an internal review and "made the decision to terminate the employee," adding they will not "tolerate violent or racist behavior."
The viral video's now amassed almost 90k views on Instagram. Hate crimes — which include verbal attacks — and other Karen and Ken spottings can be reported to the SFPD’s Special Investigations Division at (415) 553-1133.
Related: SF 'Karen' Filmed Confronting Pacific Heights Man Over Writing 'Black Lives Matter' on His Property
Black Woman on Horse At Oakland Protest Says She Knew The Image Would Be Powerful
Image: Screenshot via Instagram
