The drunk man named ‘Karen’ who was filmed breaking a child’s fishing rod in a TikTok video that went viral is a highly respected church leader and retired executive.
Matthew Webster, 62, was captured running furiously towards the teenagers, snatching the fishing rod from their hands before snapping the $200 rod in half as the wide-eyed boy watched in shock and with his mouth agape, screaming: “Nooooooo!”
“Don’t touch my stick! Don’t touch my stick, f***ing hell!” the other teen is heard saying as he stands near Webster’s home in the Admiral’s Landing neighborhood of East Knoxville. He told the teens they were “trespassing on private property.”
The June 24 exchange became heated and at one point Webster threatened to throw their cellphones into the lake, while uttering profanities at them.
It has now been revealed by The Smoking Gun Webster and his wife Eileen retired to Knoxville in 2018 from Indiana, where he was regional president of a division of Dover Corporation, a global manufacturer.
The Matthew C. Webster Trust purchased the 3,000-square-foot home for $485,000 in July of that year. In 2021, the deed was transferred to the Webster Family Community Property Trust, according to the outlet.
After moving to Tennessee, Webster volunteered to chair the Haiti Outreach Program, a group of Catholic volunteers from the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at a local Catholic church.
Matt Webster is seen approaching the teen and accusing him of trespassing. The boy was recording the heated exchange.
Webster is caught grabbing a $200 fishing bill and ripping it in half as the boy looked shocked.
The footage shows Webster trying to intimidate one of the boys by shouting in his face as the boy filmed him as he grew increasingly angry. “Do you want your phone to fall in the lake, young man?”
“Get away from him,” the other teen said. “Don’t test me,” Webster joked. “Get out of here. Go away! Go away!”
A man and woman who may have been related to Webster watched helplessly as the exchange between the trio grew more heated.
The other teen told Webster, “You threatened us… you threatened us,” while telling the homeowner he was waiting for police to arrive.
Webster responded, “I’m going to take your phone and throw it in the lake,” but the boy didn’t back down and told him that if he took his phone, “he would press charges.”
Matt Webster chairs the Haiti Relief Program, a group of Catholic volunteers from the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a local Catholic church.
Webster responded, “Why?” The teen responded, “assault. What?” Webster told the teen, “It’s not assault,” and asked them to leave his property, but the teen and his friend didn’t leave.
His voice grew louder and his face turned as red as a tomato as he shouted, “You’re fishing in a private lake. Get out of here right now,” he demanded.
The teenager replied: “The police are coming, we’re just waiting for them.”
Pointing his finger in the air, Webster told the boys they would be prosecuted and sadly: ‘Your parents will be so proud that you’re going to pay all kinds of money because you’re idiots.’
“I’m not joking,” the teenager replied calmly. “Sir, you’re the one yelling.”
He went to the boy whose staff he had broken and told him to go away, and the boy replied, “Don’t touch me.”
One of the boys told him he smelled alcohol on Webster’s breath, and Webster got angry and said, “You’re right, I did have a drink. Is that against the law, asshole?”
The aid group Webster chairs raises funds to provide “impoverished children with daily meals, clean water, education and health care and other much-needed services.”
In addition to his charitable work, Webster is also involved in the homeowners association.
It is unclear whether police responded to the scene.
When contacted by DailyMail.com, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office was not available, but a spokesperson said an investigation was underway, but no further details could be released since then. The matter involves minors, according to the media outlet.