US couple charged over guns at protest
Print Edition
The top prosecutor in St Louis in the US has charged a husband and wife with felony unlawful use of a weapon for displaying guns during a racial injustice protest outside their mansion.
Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who are white, are both personal injury attorneys in their 60s. Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner said their actions risked creating a violent situation during an otherwise non-violent protest last month.
鈥淚t is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner 鈥 that is unlawful in the city of St Louis,鈥 Gardner said.
An attorney for the couple, Joel Schwartz, in a statement called the decision to charge 鈥渄isheartening as I unequivocally believe no crime was committed.鈥
Supporters of the McCloskeys said they were legally defending their US$1.15 million home.
Gardner is recommending a diversion program such as community service rather than jail if the McCloskeys are convicted. Typically, class E felonies could result in up to four years in prison.
Several Republican leaders have condemned Gardner鈥檚 investigation, including President Donald Trump, Missouri Governor Mike Parson and Senator Josh Hawley, who has urged Attorney General William Barr to undertake a civil rights investigation of Gardner. Parson said in a radio interview on Friday that he would likely pardon the couple if they were charged and convicted.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said in a statement on Monday that he filed a brief requesting that the charges be dismissed under the state鈥檚 Castle Doctrine.
鈥淭he right to keep and bear arms is given the highest level of protection in our constitution and our laws, including the Castle Doctrine,鈥 Schmitt said in the statement. 鈥淭his provides broad rights to Missourians who are protecting their property and lives from those who wish to do them harm.鈥
Hawley said on Twitter that the charges were an 鈥渦nacceptable abuse of power and a threat to the Second Amendment.鈥 He called for a federal civil rights investigation into the St Louis Circuit Attorney鈥檚 Office to 鈥渄etermine whether this investigation and impending prosecution violates this family鈥檚 constitutional rights.鈥
Gardner said Trump, Parson and others are attacking her to distract from 鈥渢heir failed approach to the COVID-19 pandemic鈥 and other issues.
No shots were fired during the incident.
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