Republican Texas Rep. Jodey Arrington joined 16 other House Republicans in calling for an investigation Thursday of St. Louis County’s “rogue prosecutor,” Democratic Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner.
Today, 16 of my colleagues joined me in writing a letter urging @TheJusticeDept & AG Barr to protect our 2nd amendment rights & to investigate rogue prosecutors who target innocent Americans as part of their antigun, not anticrime, agenda.
Full lettter: https://t.co/218WIK0Ygk pic.twitter.com/4dXNyNwzkL
— Rep. Arrington (@RepArrington) August 7, 2020
The letter, which was sent directly to Attorney General William Barr at the Justice Department, urged an investigation into Gardner — particularly regarding her decision to prosecute Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis-based attorneys who were charged with felonies after they carried firearms to confront protesters who had illegally entered private property.
It read, in part:
Sadly, these God-given rights bestowed upon all citizens of the United States were trampled by the McCloskeys’ very own local officials, who are responsible for upholding the law. Their firearms were confiscated, and Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner charged them with felonies, carrying penalties of up to four years in prison.
This decision is not only an abuse of power, it is a reckless assault on all citizens’ right to bear arms. As police are being told to stand down by feckless and fearful politicians, upstanding citizens across the nation have watched their neighborhoods and communities burn to the ground.
Arrington spoke to the Daily Caller about the letter, calling Gardner “the poster child of rogue prosecutors” and saying that she had prioritized the prosecution of two law-abiding American citizens over violent and destructive protesters. (RELATED: Gov. Mike Parson: Over 100 St. Louis Murders Go Uncharged While Kim Gardner Charges McCloskeys)
“The streets of our cities are on fire and innocent people are being murdered,” Arrington explained. “If people think this is ‘bass ackwards,’ as we say in Texas, wait until we have the scenario where we have a Democrat Congress and President.”
Arrington went on to say that, while those on the far left did not have a majority in Congress — and certainly not across the nation — he felt that they had been intimidated into going along.
“The left extremists don’t have the numbers, but they have certainly co-opted that party. We would have this wholesale across the country,” Arrington said, adding, “When local leaders hamstring the police and local prosecutors will not prosecute the criminals, you get the twin towers of evil.”
Citing Portland as another example — where violence and riots have gone on almost continuously for two months — Arrington brought up the Insurrection Act and said that it was time for President Donald Trump to consider getting involved.
“If you get to a point where the obstruction of justice is such that it’s impractical to enforce the law, if police are unable to do their jobs without being injured or killed, if that’s the case the president is completely justified and empowered to independently use federal resources to act,” Arrington explained. “It’s appropriate to show restraint for some time period, but after 60 days and the violence has been unabated, we have reached the point where it is impractical to enforce the law.”
“After two months it’s irresponsible to use the local control argument. If the will was there at the local level that would be different,” he concluded, adding, “2020 is a battle for the ages, what could be done and undone.”
The fellow House Republicans who signed Arrington’s letter are as follows: Scott Perry (PA), Jody Hice (GA), Tom Tiffany (WI), Jeff Duncan (SC), Dan Bishop (NC), Doug Collins (GA), Brian Babin (TX), Tom Rice (SC), Dan Crenshaw (TX), Randy K. Weber (TX), Greg Murphy (NC), Paul Gosar (AZ), Alex Mooney (WV), Andy Biggs (AZ), Ron Wright (TX) and Andy Harris (MD).