The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Warning: Stay Away From St. Louis

Posted on | February 16, 2026 | No Comments

The headline probably seems like common sense to anyone who knows anything about St. Louis. If you’re from Missouri or the part of western Illinois near St. Louis, you probably don’t need any warnings, because the city is notorious dangerous, and folks in the immediate vicinity know to avoid it. “Well, Stacy, how dangerous is St. Louis?” you ask.

IT’S WORSE THAN BALTIMORE!

This is a Third World category of danger found in very few places in the United States. In 2023, only two cities — New Orleans, with a homicide rate of 46 per 100,000 residents, and Memphis, at 41 per 100,000 residents — exceeded the rate in St. Louis which, at 38 homicides per 100,000 residents, was worse than either Baltimore or Washington, D.C., which tied for fourth place that year. My friend Dana Pico likes to joke about “Killadelphia,” but the homicide rate there was just 26 per 100,000. And there were twice as many homicides per capita in St. Louis than in either Cleveland or Detroit. That’s pretty doggone bad.

Did I mention that the population of St. Louis has seen a drastic decline in recent decades? There are currently fewer than 300,000 residents in the city, down more than 50% since 1970, but not all of the lost population was murdered. Most of them escaped to the suburbs, or left the area entirely, as rampant crime turned St. Louis into a nightmare of violence and thievery. Did I mention that St. Louis is a stronghold of the Democratic Party? The city is part of Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, which is rated D+29 in the Cook Partisan Voting Index and was formerly represented by “Squad” member Cori Bush, before she lost the 2024 Democratic primary to Wesley Bell. (Who to blame? The Jews!)

Former Rep. Cori Bush (D-St. Louis)

In the 2024 election, Kamala Harris got 81% of the vote in St. Louis. Nothing good ever happens in a place where 80% of people vote Democrat, which is why it would be mistake to think that you could grab a cup of coffee at Starbucks in St. Louis and survive the experience:

ST. LOUIS — A woman was fatally shot Tuesday morning in the drive-through area of a Starbucks coffee shop in the city’s Tower Grove East neighborhood, police said.
The incident took place about 10 a.m. in the 2300 block of South Grand Boulevard near Sidney Street.
Police were searching the area for a man wearing a lime green vest and hard hat who was walking away from the scene.

If you’ll look at the map at the top of the post, you can see that this Starbucks is near Tower Grove Park, actually one of the “good” neighborhoods in St. Louis, but given the wretchedness of the city, even the “good” neighborhoods are awful. The victim of Tuesday’s shooting was soon identified as 28-year-old ice skating coach Sam Linehan.

Murder victim Gabrielle ‘Sam’ Linehan

It did not take long for police in St. Louis to apprehend the suspect who, to no one’s surprise, had “a lengthy criminal record”:

A former Team USA skater was reportedly shot and killed in a Starbucks drive-thru in Missouri during an alleged armed robbery involving a suspect with a lengthy criminal record.
Citing court documents, the New York Post said Gabrielle “Sam” Linehan, 28, was sitting in her car outside the coffee shop when she was murdered on Tuesday shortly after 10 a.m.
The media outlet identified the suspect as 58-year-old Keith Lamon Brown.
Online jail records show Brown was arrested early Wednesday morning. He was charged with first-degree murder, three counts of first-degree robbery, four counts of armed criminal action, as well as one count of unlawful possession of a gun connected to Linehan’s death and other recent robberies, according to the records.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department shared surveillance photos of the suspect, which showed him wearing a high-visibility vest and white helmet during the time of the deadly shooting.
Police said a SWAT team later executed a search warrant at his home, where detectives found evidence from two prior robberies.
Court documents allege that Brown was wanted for two armed robberies that happened just a few days before Linehan’s murder.
“On or about February 6, 2026, the defendant pointed a firearm into the Confidential Victim 1’s vehicle while she was in the drive-thru. He stole a 9mm handgun, her purse containing bank cards, and Confidential Victim 1’s and her daughter’s cell phones,” the documents noted.
“On or about February 8, 2026, the defendant went into a store and pointed his firearm at Confidential Victim 2, who was working as a cashier, demanding and receiving money. At both locations, he discharged his firearms,” according to the documents.
The documents also described Brown as a convicted felon, noting that he has a criminal history that dates back to 1986.
“On or about November 14, 1986, in County of Saint Louis, the defendant was convicted of the offense of armed criminal action,” the documents show.
About a decade later on October 31, 1996, he was convicted of the offense of armed criminal action, per the records.

Accused killer Keith Lamon Brown

This guy is a one-man crime wave, and appears to have been perpetrating felonies more or less continuously since he was a teenager. Which is to say, he is a typical resident of St. Louis, a city where Kamala Harris got 81% of the vote. Nothing good ever happens there, and the only advice I can offer is to avoid St. Louis entirely. Don’t become a statistic.



 

Category: Crime, Missouri

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