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Missouri AG Wants To Dismiss Charges Against St. Louis Couple Who Brandished Guns On Property During Protests

Missouri Attorney General Schmitt speaks to Reuters after antitrust probe announcement outside the Supreme Court in Washington

REUTERS/Bryan Pietsch

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt pledged Monday to seek a dismissal of charges against St. Louis couple Mark and Patricia McCloskey.

The couple faced down a group of demonstrators in late June with an AR-15 and a handgun. St. Louis circuit attorney Kim Gardner charged the pair with felony weapons charges Monday.

Patricia McCloskey and her husband Mark McCloskey draw their firearms on protestors, including a man who holds a video camera and microphone, as they enter their neighborhood during a protest against St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. June 28, 2020. [REUTERS/Lawrence Bryant]

Patricia McCloskey and her husband Mark McCloskey draw their firearms on protestors, including a man who holds a video camera and microphone, as they enter their neighborhood during a protest against St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. June 28, 2020. [REUTERS/Lawrence Bryant]

“Citizens shouldn’t be targeted for exercising their #2A right to self-defense,” Schmitt tweeted Monday. “STL prosecutor Kim Gardner is engaged in political prosecution … As AG I’m entering the case seeking dismissal & [to] defend all Missourians’ right to protect their lives/property.” (RELATED: Couple Wielding Guns Outside Their Mansion During BLM Protest Are Lawyers Representing A Victim Of Police Brutality)


Gardner was quick to indicate her disapproval of the McCloskeys’ actions.

“I am alarmed at the events that occurred over the weekend, where peaceful protestors were met by guns and a violent assault,” she tweeted June 29. “We must protect the right to peacefully protest, and any attempt to chill it with intimidation or threat of deadly force will not be tolerated.”

ST LOUIS, MO - JUNE 2: Graffiti is seen on a burned out 7Eleven after riots and looting overnight on June 2, 2020 in St Louis, Missouri. Four police officers were reportedly shot in St. Louis overnight during violent clashes with protesters leading to looting and damage to local businesses. (Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)

Graffiti is seen on a burned out 7Eleven after riots and looting overnight on June 2, 2020 in St Louis, Missouri. Four police officers were reportedly shot in St. Louis overnight during violent clashes with protesters leading to looting and damage to local businesses. (Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)

Soon after, local police arrived at the McCloskey home and seized the rifle, prompting outrage from some GOP lawmakers, who urged Attorney General William Barr to investigate the alleged violation of Second Amendment rights. The couple had already given the handgun to their former attorney Al Watkins, according to Fox 2. Watkins subsequently surrendered the gun to police. (RELATED: Civil Rights Activist: Left Is Not Fighting For Social Justice But For ‘Anarchy’)

Mark McCloskey appeared on Fox News to confirm the firearms seizure and to accuse much of the “traditional media” of being in the pockets of “the mob.”

“You know, the traditional media is right behind the mob,” McCloskey said on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” “We are not allowed to use that word anymore — the large crowd of angry people — and are supporting these entities which are from my understanding Marxist and oppose everything that I stand for and I hold dear.”