Missouri’s attorney general filed a motion to dismiss the charges against a St. Louis man and his wife after they were indicted by a local prosecutor on charges of unlawful use of a weapon after they brandished firearms at Black Lives Matter protesters outside their home last month.
Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed an amicus brief seeking the dismissal of the case against Mark and Patricia McCloskey, asking the judge to toss the case out on Second Amendment grounds.
“Attorney General Eric S. Schmitt has a duty to protect the fundamental rights of all Missourians, including the right to keep and bear arms in self-defense of one’s person and home,” the brief filed Monday said. “Although he does not represent the Defendants in this case, this case casts an ominous shadow over those fundamental rights. The prosecution sends a powerful message to all Missourians that they exercise their fundamental right to self-defense at their peril.”
Missourians should not “fear exposure to criminal prosecution” when they use firearms to “defend themselves and their homes from threatening intruders,” Schmitt argued.
In a video statement posted to his Twitter account Monday, Schmitt said he “won’t stand by” and watch District Attorney Kim Gardner prosecute the McCloskeys.
I won’t stand by while the law is ignored. Missourians have a right to defend themselves & their property.
St. Louis prosecutor Kim Gardner’s political prosecution should be dismissed.
I joined @ShannonBream tonight on @FoxNews to talk about it. #2A pic.twitter.com/JMO3Y2E0wa
— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) July 21, 2020
Both Mark McCloskey and his wife told police and members of the media they feared for their lives when protesters passed through their private, gated community on June 28.
The McCloskeys claimed the protesters threatened to kill their dog and burn their property.
Patricia McCloskey previously told Fox News host Sean Hannity that “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.”
Gardner, a Democrat whose campaign was backed by liberal billionaire George Soros, called the display from the couple “alarming.” Last week, police seized the AR-15 rifle Mark McCloskey pointed at the crowd outside his home.
“It is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner — that is unlawful in the city of St. Louis,” Gardner said Monday while announcing the charges.
Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, teased a pardon of the McCloskeys before charges were filed.
“I don’t think they’re going to spend any time in jail,” he said.
Sen. Josh Hawley, who represents Missouri in the upper chamber, has also voiced support for the couple, warning the scrutiny they have faced from Gardner amounts to an abuse of power.
“There is no question under Missouri law that the McCloskeys had the right to own and use their firearms to protect themselves from threatened violence, and that any criminal prosecution for these actions is legally unsound,” Hawley said last week. “The only possible motivation for the investigation, then, is a politically motivated attempt to punish this family for exercising their Second Amendment rights.”
If convicted, both Mark and Patricia McCloskey face up to four years in prison and fines of up to $5,000.
