The couple who wielded weapons at Black Lives Matter protesters from their St. Louis home’s front lawn urged the country to rally around President Trump because Democrats won’t protect them.
“Whether it’s defunding the police, ending cash bail so criminals can be released back out on the streets the same day to riot again, or encouraging anarchy on our streets, it seems as if Democrats no longer view the government’s job as protecting honest citizens from criminals, but rather protecting criminals from honest citizens,” Mark McCloskey told the Republican National Convention on Monday.
Wife Patricia McCloskey added, “These are the policies that are coming to a neighborhood near you. So make no mistake: No matter where you live, your family will not be safe in the radical Democrats’ America.”
The McCloskeys face felony charges for brandishing firearms at a large group of demonstrators who broke down a fence to protest through their gated neighborhood in June. They have become Fox News fixtures over the summer and have used the platform to accuse St. Louis prosecutor Kim Gardner of not being objective in pressing charges against them. The unlawful use of a weapon charge carries a sentence of one to four years in prison and fines of up to $5,000.
While declining to charge some rioters wrapped up in racial injustice protests after George Floyd’s death, Gardner referenced the McCloskeys in a campaign email, telling supporters they “pointed guns at peaceful citizens.” She also admitted to not disclosing 2017 and 2018 travel paid for by activist organization Fair and Just Prosecution but said the connection hadn’t influenced her work.
During their prime-time TV appearance, part of four days of convention programming, the McCloskeys warned that law and order problems weren’t isolated to city centers. The issues were trickling outward into the suburbs, they said.
The McCloskeys, themselves attorneys, joined former Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann at the convention in sharing their “cancel culture” experience. Sandmann successfully sued the Washington Post and CNN this year for millions of dollars over their coverage of his 2019 stand-off with Native American elder Nathan Phillips.
