St. Louis lawyers who confronted protesters with guns under investigation
By Lee Brown
June 30, 2020 | 7:44am | Updated
The St. Louis lawyers who pulled weapons on protesters marching past their home are being investigated for possible criminal charges, the city’s lead prosecutor has revealed.
Mark and Patricia McCloskey — who went viral after brandishing an AR-15-style rifle and a silver-colored handgun, respectively — were the only ones to lodge a police report over Sunday’s confrontation, insisting they were “victims” of threatening trespassers who entered a gated community, the St. Louis American noted.
But the husband-and-wife lawyers are being probed by police and prosecutors for possible threats against the crowd, authorities announced Monday.
“I am alarmed at the events that occurred over the weekend, where peaceful protestors were met by guns,” St. Louis Prosecutor Kimberly Gardner said, also condemning a separate “violent assault” in the city.
“We must protect the right to peacefully protest, and any attempt to chill it through intimidation or threat of deadly force will not be tolerated,” she insisted, saying her office was “currently working with the public and police to investigate these events.”
Make no mistake: we will not tolerate the use of force against those exercising their First Amendment rights, and will use the full power of Missouri law to hold people accountable,” Gardner warned.
Mark McCloskey has insisted in an interview that they only grabbed the weapons after being “threatened with our lives,” comparing it to “storming the Bastille.”
n their police report, the couple also claimed they only grabbed the weapons after they “observed multiple subjects who were armed,” the St Louis American said.
Missouri law states that a citizen is committing unlawful use of a weapon if they “exhibit, in the presence of one or more persons, any weapon readily capable of lethal use in an angry or threatening manner,” the paper noted. It would likely be a Class D felony with up to 4 years in prison and a fine not to exceed $5,000.
However, a so-called “Castle Doctrine” allows people to use deadly force to attack an intruder on their property, the paper stressed.
https://nypost.com/2020/06/30/st-louis-lawyers-who-waved-guns-at-protesters-under-investigation/