Free Father Teresa Guy

About

The Free Father Teresa Guy refers to a male Donald Trump supporter seen outside the New York City courthouse on the day of Trump's guilty verdict holding a sign that reads "Free Father Teresa" while screaming into the air. The guy resembled the Luke Crywalker meme of a liberal protestor screaming during Trump's Presidential Inauguration. The guy was seen shouting on NBC News' coverage of the event. The Free Father Teresa Guy was later revealed to be a character planted at the courthouse protest by late show host Jimmy Kimmel. The man's real name was Tony Barbieri playing his MAGA supporter character Jake Byrd.

Origin

On May 30th, 2024, Former U.S. President Donald Trump was found guilty in his Hush Money Case. A man outside of the New York City courthouse was filmed on NBC News' coverage of the event, seen holding a sign that read, "Free Father Teresa." A screencap of the man screaming into the air was first posted by X^[1] user @SekhBurd on May 30th, gaining over 41,600 views and 650 likes in a day (shown below).

On the night of May 30th, 2024, late show host Jimmy Kimmel revealed in his monologue that he planted the Free Father Teresa Guy. The man's real name was Tony Barbieri playing his MAGA supporter character Jake Byrd. The monologue was posted to the show's YouTube^[2] channel on May 30th, receiving over 1.6 million views in less than a day (shown below).

Spread

Before internet users realized that the Free Father Teresa Guy was an actor, many posted memes about him, often comparing him to the Luke Crywalker meme. For instance, on May 30th, 2024, X^[3] user @jaredlholt tweeted both images, writing, "We have achieved the singularity," gaining over 63,000 likes in a day (shown below, left).

Also on May 30th, 2024, X^[4] user @OkayHeyJay tweeted the image, writing, "NEW SOY FACE DROPPED," receiving over 23,000 likes in a day (shown below, right).

Also on May 30th, 2024, Redditor^[5] Gingevere posted the image to /r/therewasanattempt, writing, "to maintain composure." The post gained over 3,900 upvotes in less than a day (shown below).

Another angle of the Free Father Teresa Guy was also posted to /r/pics on Reddit^[6] on May 30th, 2024, however, it was removed by the subreddit's moderators after gaining over 14,000 upvotes in less than a day.

Other posts using the Free Father Teresa Guy image were posted to Bluesky. ^[7]

A 4chan user posted the image to /pol/ ^[8] on May 30th, 2024, writing, "THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN, FREE TRUMP! FREE HIM NOW HE'S LIKE MOTHER THERESA!!! YOU FUCKING FUCKS! HE HAS PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY YOU LIBCHUDS," earning multiple replies (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References