Sen. Josh Hawley accused a St. Louis prosecutor, who is reportedly considering filing charges against a man who pointed his AR-15 at Black Lives Matter protesters last weekend, of playing politics with the criminal justice system.
“The idea that you wouldn’t prosecute actual violent criminals who are shooting cops, who are burning buildings in St. Louis — those people don’t even get charged,” Hawley said Thursday. “Yet you are going to investigate and maybe prosecute this couple? That’s really an abuse of power.”
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner said she was “alarmed” by an incident that took place Sunday outside the home of Mark and Patricia McCloskey, local attorneys who live in a private, gated community.
Videos show protesters, who were demanding the resignation of St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, marching through the McCloskeys’ neighborhood as the couple were reportedly eating dinner.
Mark McCloskey and his wife are then seen on video brandishing firearms at the group and yelling at them. McCloskey told local media that the protesters threatened to kill him and damage his property.
“A mob of at least 100 smashed through the historic wrought-iron gates of Portland Place, destroying them, rushed toward my home, where my family was having dinner outside, and put us in fear of our lives,” he said. “This is all private property. There are no public sidewalks or public streets. We were told that we would be killed, our home burned, and our dog killed. We were all alone facing an angry mob.”
The prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into the standoff. Missouri law dictates that anyone who “exhibits, in the presence of one or more persons, any weapon readily capable of lethal use in an angry or threatening manner” can be charged with a felony.
McCloskey said this week that he and his wife support the Black Lives Matter movement.
“A guy stands in front of me, pulls out two loaded pistol magazines, snaps them together in front of my face, and says, ‘You’re next.’ If you were there, Chris, I think you’d feel like you had a right to defend yourself, as well,” McCloskey told CNN’s Chris Cuomo.
Hawley, a Republican who received a 93% approval rating from the National Rifle Association in 2018, said McCloskey was well within his rights during the altercation.
“The truth is they are on their own property. They are standing there. They have a Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. They felt that they were being threatened,” Hawley said. “The video shows folks on their property shouting threats at them. And the truth is they never left their property. They never went toward the crowd, got off the property, you know, waved the guns around to get them back on the street. They stayed right where they were, which is their right to do.”
