XPost: sac.politics, alt.politics.democrats, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
XPost: talk.politics.guns

Mark and Patricia McCloskey say they were defending themselves
against violent demonstrators

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner said Monday she's
charging the couple who flashed guns at a crowd marching to the
mayor's office last month, further igniting the gun-rights
debate.

Gardner, the city's top prosecutor, said Mark and Patricia
McCloskey will be charged with felony unlawful use of a weapon
following the June 28 incident.

"It is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner -- that
is unlawful in the city of St. Louis," Gardner said in a
statement. She added that she was recommending a diversion
program as an alternative to jail.

The McCloskeys have said many times they were defending
themselves, with tensions high in St. Louis and other cities
over race and law enforcement. They said that the crowd of
demonstrators broke an iron gate marked with "No Trespassing"
and "Private Street" signs, and that some violently threatened
them.

In a statement to Fox News, the couple's attorney, Joel
Schwartz, called the charges "disheartening."

"I, along with my clients, support the First Amendment right of
every citizen to have their voice and opinion heard.," Schwartz
said. "This right, however, must be balanced with the Second
Amendment and Missouri law, which entitle each of us to protect
our home and family from potential threats."

The husband and wife told "Hannity" earlier this month they were
preparing to sit down for dinner on their porch when "300 to 500
people" stormed their community gate and began marching toward
them.

The couple, both attorneys, displayed weapons as Black Lives
Matter activists walked onto the private street in their
community. They were headed to the home of St. Louis Mayor Lyda
Krewson.

"[They said] that they were going to kill us," Patricia
McCloskey recalled at the time. "They were going to come in
there. They were going to burn down the house. They were going
to be living in our house after I was dead, and they were
pointing to different rooms and said, 'That’s going to be my
bedroom and that’s going to be the living room and I’m going to
be taking a shower in that room.'"

The husband and wife maintained they were protecting their home.
St. Louis police seized the rifle from the home pursuant to a
search warrant.

No shots were fired but the incident quickly went viral and
fueled the debate over what rights do property owners have when
confronted with perceived threats.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, said Friday he would
consider pardoning the couple should they be criminally charged.

"A mob does not have the right to charge your property," he told
Parson told 97.1 FM. "They had every right to protect
themselves."

Parson.s office did not immediately respond to a Fox News
request for comment.

Last week, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., urged Attorney General Bil
Barr to investigate Gardner over her decision to investigate the
couple, saying the prosecutor has been hostile to gun rights in
the past.

"This is an unacceptable abuse of power and threat to the Second
Amendment, and I urge you to consider a federal civil rights
investigations," Hawley wrote in a letter to Barr. "No family
should face the threat of harassment or malicious prosecution
for exercising that right."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/st-louis-mccloskey-charged-prosecutor-
gardner-guns
 

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