The St. Louis couple facing felony weapons charges after pointing guns at Black Lives Matter protesters have sued a news photographer who took photographs of the incident.
Attorneys Mark and Patricia McCloskey, both in their 60s, filed a lawsuit on Friday in the St. Louis Circuit Court against Bill Greenblatt, a photographer who works for United Press International, a wire service, and Redbubble, an online marketplace that prints custom products on demand, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
In June, a group of protesters broke into the McCloskey’s gated community on the way to protest in front of St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson’s house and demand her resignation after she publicly read aloud personal information of people who had advocated for defunding the local police department.
At the time, Mark McCloskey said that a “mob of at least 100” people entered the Portland Place community and “rushed toward my home, where my family was having dinner outside, and put us in fear of our lives.”
“We were told that we would be killed, our home burned, and our dog killed,” he said. “We were all alone, facing an angry mob.”
Following the incident, a grand jury filed an indictment against the couple, charging them with unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with evidence. The McCloskeys pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Photographers are allowed to take pictures from public rights of way, but the McCloskeys argue that the protesters had trespassed on private property. The couple said that Greenblatt’s picture contributed to their “significant recognition and infamy,” according to WTHR. They also claim that Greenblatt and UPI have profited from “T-shirts, masks, and other items, and licensing use of photographs bearing Plaintiffs’ likenesses, without obtaining Plaintiffs’ consent.”
Despite the McCloskeys’ claims that the use of their image has caused them “humiliation, mental anguish, and severe emotional distress,” the couple has been signing and handing out holiday cards featuring Greenblatt’s photograph, captioned, “Patty & Mark McCloskey v. the Mob.” UPI said that it was considering a “cease and desist” order to stop the couple from using its photograph on the personal greeting cards.
