“Keep f–ing moving. I’m not joking around!” a family heard after a rich, white woman decided the area of the beach they were lounging in was part of her property and proceeded to rope off the public area while shouting and hurling insults.

This latest example of “Karen” behavior was captured on a TikTok clip and uploaded on July 19, 2024, garnering close to 50,000 likes and 4,000 comments at the time of writing. 

“We were never on her property at all,” affirmed uploader Rosie, confirming that the incident took place in Laguna Beach, California, a state where all beaches are public waterward of the mean high tide line.

A “Karen” ropes off a public beach, claiming it as part of her multimillion-dollar property while hurling insults at an innocent family

Image credits: RJ Osuna/Unsplash

After noticing the family lounging in what the “Karen” believes is part of her property, she bursts out of her home with a spool of thick, white string in her hands, intending to ward off the area and get the “intruders” off her land.

She then throws the item toward the sand while screaming insults and ordering the family to leave.

“You’re on my property. Get moving now. Now you’re in my property line. Move it!” she shouts, prompting the family to respond. “Ma’am, we’re walking,” to which the homeowner replied, “Pretty f–ing slow.”

Image credits: rosiecheeks_irl

Alongside the outrage caused by the woman’s rude attitude, the TikTok clip also generated discussion about who actually owns that area of the beach.

Viewers were keen to write off the “Karen’s” motivations as wrong, considering her foul attitude, but it turns out the answer might be a bit more complicated than how it initially appears.

In the state of California, the law is very precise about who owns the state’s coastline: Everything below the mean high tide line belongs to the public

Image credits: rosiecheeks_irl

But what exactly constitutes a “mean high tide line?”

According to the law, the limit is the average of all the high water heights observed over the National Tidal Datum Epoch, a 19-year tidal cycle used to calculate the fluctuations in the levels of different water boundaries.

In layman’s terms, this means that everyone has the right to walk on wet sand, no matter the area. This means that the homeowner featured in the video is in the wrong and that the area she was trying to claim as private was indeed public.

But being an average that’s calculated over many years, it has led many to interpret the law liberally. How can homeowners be sure of the limits of their properties when the tides move up and down constantly?

Image credits: rosiecheeks_irl

@rosiecheeks_irl Karen on Laguna Beach extending the property to a public area… we were never on her her property at all. She even told my friend her ass was out bcs she was wearing a dress… its a beach?? #victoriabeach #karen ♬ original sound – Rosie

Lawyer Ronald J. Sokol explained the confusion in an interview with Daily Breeze. “Controversy and litigation over coastal access issues are not uncommon.”

“The California Coastal Act seeks to ensure that the public has the right to freely walk up to the mean high tide line, no matter who owns the property fronting the beach,” he explained. “If you can get there from the water, tidelands or an adjacent beach, research indicates, you are allowed to be there as long as you don’t venture onto the land above where high tide would be.”

When asked how beachgoers can be sure they’re not trespassing on private property, even with signs or angry homeowners present, he responded, “One way of thinking about it is that you are OK where the sand is wet.”

The California Coastal Commission holds jurisdiction over the area where the altercation occurred, and its verdict is clear: The coasts are public

Image credits: rosiecheeks_irl

@rosiecheeks_irl Replying to @Goodday Mo 🌵 ♬ original sound – Rosie

Victoria Beach, which is the place where the clip was recorded, is located within Laguna Beach City, which is well within the California Coastal Commission’s jurisdiction for public access to coasts. This means that homeowners have to be aware of the easements procured by the Commission over the years to get an accurate grasp of how much of their perceived land is actually private.

While nothing can excuse the rude behavior of the “Karen” in the viral video, her reaction could be understood as the result of a lack of information surrounding the limits of her property.

Viewers were almost universally appalled by the behavior shown by the owner of the multimillion-dollar property, with many urging the affected family to reach out to denounce the woman to the authorities

Image credits: Unwind/stock.adobe.com

“The Coastal Commission is gonna have a field day with this video,” said one viewer.

“Please contact the coastal commission! Let us know what they said,” urged another.

Others doubted that the rude woman was operating out of ignorance, and they thought that the woman simply wanted that specific family out of her sight. “Trust me, that Karen would’ve had a fence up years ago if it were her property hence why she only got rope. She just doesn’t want them near her home.”

“This is very common behavior for residents of Laguna Beach. Great beaches but horrible people,” added a viewer.

“As a person who lived there and whose family lived at Vic Beach for 15 years. All beaches in Laguna are public!” affirmed another.

Viewers awarded the homeowner the unflattering title of “Karen of the Week” after her attitude garnered near-universal scorn

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