A group of House Republicans urged Attorney General William Barr to investigate St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and other “rogue” prosecutors they believe have violated the Constitution.
Seventeen GOP lawmakers signed a letter sent to Barr on Thursday urging him to have the Justice Department scrutinize their prosecutorial decisions, highlighting how Gardner, who just won her Democratic primary contest this week, opted to charge St. Louis lawyers Patricia and Mark McCloskey after they brandished weapons when protesters broke through a locked gate into their community and marched past their home while refusing to charge looters and rioters.
“We urge [Barr] and the Department of Justice to investigate Ms. Gardner’s actions, and the actions of every rogue prosecutor who fails to uphold the rule of law and secure the rights of our citizens. Americans deserve to know exactly how public officials are abusing their power by harassing individuals expressing their rights and failing to enforce laws against trespassing, destruction, and violations of private property,” they wrote.
The letter was signed by Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, and Texas Reps. Dan Crenshaw and Jodey Arrington, among others. Arrington, who put together the letter, told the Washington Examiner that he hopes an investigation into Gardner’s decision would serve as a deterrent against prosecutors letting their political opinions dictate law enforcement.
“I want the U.S. attorney general to nip this in the bud so that there’s not widespread fear among law-abiding American citizens in cities and states across the country who have been reading the news and watching the news with great concern that this tyrannical mob and violent leftists rioting would spread to their communities and that they cannot depend on local leaders to do their job to protect them,” Arrington said.
“It’s to send a message, too, to other rogue prosecutors that this will not be tolerated. And it’s also a message to the violent mobs that plague our country that they will be met with equal or greater force when they go onto the private property or assault law-abiding citizens. And that is a deterrent and that is important because the message has not been one of deterrence by some of these local and state leaders who have abdicated their responsibility,” he later added.
Arrington referenced a recent survey from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association for firearms sellers, which revealed that 2.5 million people in the last six months purchased a firearm for the first time. Most of these people reported purchasing a handgun or a shotgun for self-defense. He said that those new gun owners need to have their Second Amendment rights protected from prosecutors like Gardner.
“The Constitution is clear that the Bill of Rights doesn’t just apply in the case of the Second Amendment, where the federal government shall not infringe — it applies to the states as well. And where there is a compromise of those fundamental freedoms or where those basic rights are being violated, I think it is absolutely the responsibility of the U.S. attorney general to investigate so that we don’t have other local leaders copying what’s happening in St. Louis,” he said.
The McCloskeys, who pointed their guns at protesters passing by their property in late June, were each charged last month with one felony count of unlawful use of a weapon. Several officials in Missouri have condemned Gardner’s charges, including Gov. Mike Parson, who hinted at a pardon if the McCloskeys are found guilty. Dozens of current and former federal prosecutors released a statement last month defending Gardner from the attacks.
