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The St. Louis couple who were pictured with guns as Black Lives Matter protesters marched past their property last year received a pardon from Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, his office said Tuesday.
Pardons for Mark and Patricia McCloskey, two lawyers in their sixties, were granted on July 30. In total, Parson, a Republican, granted 12 pardons and two commutations.
WHO IS KIMBERLY GARDNER, ATTORNEY FOR MISSOURI AT THE CENTER OF THE MCCLOSKEY CASE?
The couple pleaded guilty to offenses related to the June 2020 incident and were ordered to pay fines. Mark McCloskey, pleaded guilty to fourth degree assault for threatening passersby with an AR-15 rifle and was fined $ 750.
Mark and Patricia McCloskey shoot their guns at protesters as they enter their St. Louis neighborhood during a protest against then-mayor Lyda Krewson in June 2020.
(DANIEL SHULAR / via REUTERS)
Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to harassment and was fined $ 2,000. They did not lose their driver’s licenses or their guns.
“This is a correction of something that should never have happened in the first place,” Mark McCloskey told Fox News of the pardons.
The couple were both vilified and celebrated after footage went viral showing them pointing guns at BLM protesters who entered the property inside a gated community. They eventually ventured to a private street near the McCloskey mansion.
Crowds marched towards the home of then-mayor Lyda Krewson amid nationwide protests over the murder of George Floyd by police.
Mark McCloskey was seen holding a rifle while his wife appeared to be holding a handgun with her finger on the trigger.
The showdown pitted Second Amendment and property rights activists against Black Lives Matter supporters. The McCloskeys rose to fame in conservative circles and even gave a speech on the first night of the 2020 Republican National Convention.
St. Louis Circuit lawyer Kimberly Gardner initially filed weapons and evidence tampering charges against the couple, but were legally removed from the case after defense attorneys claimed that she had exploited the accusation in a fundraising email to voters.
Fox News has contacted the circuit prosecutor’s office.
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Mark McCloskey, who has since announced a GOP bid for a US Senate seat in Missouri, said his case was part of a trend where Tories are being prosecuted for minor incidents as criminals such as looters and rioters are not.
Nine Black Lives Matter protesters have received citations for trespassing in connection with the incident, but prosecutors have refused to move forward. The couple’s lawyer said the protesters broke down a gate to access the private street and threatened them.
Prosecutors determined that the protesters acted peacefully.
“If you have an ‘R’ behind your name you are subject to one type of court system and if you have a ‘D’ you are subject to another,” he said.
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