The Missouri governor said he’s ready and willing to issue a pardon of a St. Louis couple if they are charged by local prosecutors after brandishing their guns at Black Lives Matter protesters in their neighborhood last month.
“I don’t think they’re going to spend any time in jail,” said Republican Gov. Mike Parson during an interview with a local radio station Friday, noting a pardon would be “exactly what would happen” if District Attorney Kim Gardner were to indict the couple.
The governor’s authority to grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons is derived from the Constitution of Missouri, article IV, section 7, according to state law.
Last week, local police seized the AR-15 Mark McCloskey waved at protesters, who he said threatened him and his wife.
Gardner called the incident “alarming” and said, “We will not tolerate the use of force against those exercising their First Amendment rights.”
Several prominent Republicans in the state, including Sen. Josh Hawley, have criticized Gardner for teasing potential charges against the McCloskeys.
“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. The only possible motivation for the investigation, then, is a politically motivated attempt to punish this family for exercising their Second Amendment rights,” Hawley wrote. “The Second Amendment is not a second-class right. No family should face the threat of harassment or malicious prosecution for exercising that right. The Department of Justice must ensure that all Americans’ rights are protected from this kind of abuse of power.”
Parson echoed Hawley’s sentiment, saying the McCloskeys were well within their rights during the incident.
“A mob does not have the right to charge your property,” Parson said. “They had every right to protect themselves.”
