• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Lost Prairie Press

Lost Prairie Press

Trending News from the Midwest - IA, IL, KS, MO, NE

  • Home
  • MIDWEST
  • ILLINOIS
  • IOWA
  • KANSAS
  • MISSOURI
  • NEBRASKA
  • About Us
    • Contact Us

Missouri’s Governor Pardons The St. Louis Lawyers Who Waved Guns At BLM Protesters : NPR

Armed homeowners Mark and Patricia McCloskey stood in front of their house in June 2020, confronting protesters who were marching to St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson’s house. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has made good on his promise to pardon the couple, who had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges.

Laurie Skrivan/AP

hide caption

toggle caption

Laurie Skrivan/AP

Armed homeowners Mark and Patricia McCloskey stood in front of their house in June 2020, confronting protesters who were marching to St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson’s house. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has made good on his promise to pardon the couple, who had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges.

Laurie Skrivan/AP

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Tuesday announced that he made good on his promise to pardon a couple who gained notoriety for pointing guns at social justice demonstrators as they marched past the couple’s home in a luxury St. Louis enclave last year.

Parson, a Republican, on Friday pardoned Mark McCloskey, who pleaded guilty in June to misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and was fined $750, and Patricia McCloskey, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment and was fined $2,000.

“Mark McCloskey has publicly stated that if he were involved in the same situation, he would have the exact same conduct,” the McCloskeys’ lawyer Joel Schwartz said Tuesday. “He believes that the pardon vindicates that conduct.”

St. Louis Prosecutor Taken Off Case Of Couple Who Brandished Guns At BLM Protesters

9 Protesters Confronted By Gun-Waving St. Louis Couple Get Trespassing Citations

The McCloskeys, both lawyers in their 60s, said they felt threatened by the protesters, who were passing their home in June 2020 on their way to demonstrate in front of the mayor’s house nearby in one of hundreds of similar demonstrations around the country after George Floyd’s death. The couple also said the group was trespassing on a private street.

Mark McCloskey emerged from his home with an AR-15-style rifle, and Patricia McCloskey waved a semiautomatic pistol, according to the indictment. Photos and cellphone video captured the confrontation, which drew widespread attention and made the couple heroes to some and villains to others. No shots were fired and no one was hurt.

Special prosecutor Richard Callahan said his investigation determined that the protesters were peaceful.

“There was no evidence that any of them had a weapon and no one I interviewed realized they had ventured onto a private enclave,” Callahan said in a news release after the McCloskeys pleaded guilty.

Mark McCloskey decided to run for office after the incident

Mark McCloskey, who announced in May that he was running for a U.S. Senate seat in Missouri, was unapologetic after the plea hearing.

“I’d do it again,” he said from the courthouse steps in downtown St. Louis. “Any time the mob approaches me, I’ll do what I can to put them in imminent threat of physical injury because that’s what kept them from destroying my house and my family.”

Because the charges were misdemeanors, the McCloskeys did not face the possibility of losing their law licenses or their rights to own firearms.

The McCloskeys were indicted by a grand jury in October on felony charges of the unlawful use of a weapon and evidence tampering. Callahan later amended the charges to give jurors the alternative of convictions of misdemeanor harassment instead of the weapons charge.

Parson’s legal team has been working through a backlog of clemency requests for months.

He hasn’t yet taken action on longtime inmate Kevin Strickland, who several prosecutors now say is innocent of a 1978 Kansas City triple homicide. Parson could pardon Strickland, but he has said he’s not convinced he is innocent.

###[ad_2]
Originally Appeared Here

Filed Under: MISSOURI, St Louis News

Primary Sidebar

More to See

7-things-to-do-this-weekend-in-kc:-may-19-22-2022

7 Things To Do This Weekend In KC: May 19-22 2022

Jacob Collier Jacob Collier is coming to The Truman this Thursday night. This event has been rescheduled from May 2020, and resellers seemed to have marked up ticket prices quite a bit. But trust … [Read More...] about 7 Things To Do This Weekend In KC: May 19-22 2022

City welcomes new chief human resources officer

Posted on May 19, 2022 The City of Overland Park welcomes a new Human Resources Department leader, following a national search. Thomas Bledsoe comes to the City from … [Read More...] about City welcomes new chief human resources officer

korean-street-food-and-house-brewed-soju-coming-to-westport

Korean street food and house-brewed soju coming to Westport

Food from the upcoming Westport Korean restaurant Chingu/Photo by Alyssa Broadu Chingu, a new Westport spot from the team behind Sura eats, will combine Korean street food and soju … [Read More...] about Korean street food and house-brewed soju coming to Westport

a-recent-trip-to-new-york-reminded-me-just-how-much-kansas-city-jazz-has-to-offer

A recent trip to New York reminded me just how much Kansas City jazz has to offer

Photography by Caleb Condit & Rebecca Norden “There’s a common myth that Kansas City jazz ended with World War II,” local jazz historian and author Chuck Haddix says. While the … [Read More...] about A recent trip to New York reminded me just how much Kansas City jazz has to offer

a-local-group-works-with-survivors-of-violence-to-break-the-cycle

A local group works with survivors of violence to break the cycle

Illustration by Makalah Hardy Almost every day, Marquell Harris visits two hospitals: Research Medical Center and Truman. And almost every day, he sees new survivors of gunshot … [Read More...] about A local group works with survivors of violence to break the cycle

Footer

WELCOME!

Thanks for visiting Lost Prairie Press!

We hope you’ll enjoy news and perspective from the Midwest – specifically, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas and Missouri.

About/Contact

Privacy Policy

Recent

  • 7 Things To Do This Weekend In KC: May 19-22 2022
  • City welcomes new chief human resources officer
  • Korean street food and house-brewed soju coming to Westport

Search

Copyright © 2022 · Lost Prairie Press