Missouri Gov. Parson said he would pardon the St. Louis couple who pointed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters
- Missouri Gov. Mike Parson told a St. Louis radio show that if they are charged, he would pardon Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the couple who pointed their guns at Black Lives Matter protesters back in June.
- "A mob does not have the right to charge your property," Gov. Parson said of the June 28 incident. "They had every right to protect themselves."
- President Donald Trump has also defended the couple, calling the legal proceedings against them "a disgrace."
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said on Friday that he would pardon the St. Louis couple that pointed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters marching past their home last month.
In an interview on the "Marc Cox Morning Show" on 97.1 FM, Parson said if Mark and Patricia McCloskey were to face charges for the June 28 incident, he doesn't "think they're going to spend any time in jail."
The McCloskeys are currently being investigated by Democratic Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner after they were caught on videos posted to social media brandishing guns at a stream of protesters who were marching to St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson's house. Parson said the couple "did what they legally should do."
"A mob does not have the right to charge your property," he said on the radio show. "They had every right to protect themselves."
"Right now, if this is all about going after them for doing a lawful act, then yeah, if that scenario ever happened, I don't think they're going to spend any time in jail," Parson added.
Insider previously reported that Missouri law says a person "commits the offense of unlawful use of weapons" if "he or she knowingly exhibits, in the presence of one or more persons, any weapon readily capable of lethal use in an angry or threatening manner."
Parson later posted a link to his interview on Twitter, where he wrote "We will not allow law-abiding citizens to be targeted for exercising their constitutional rights.
President Donald Trump has also spoken out to defend the McCloskeys, telling the conservative site Townhall in an interview last week that legal proceedings against the couple are "a disgrace."
Gov. Parson said last week that Trump "doesn't like what he sees and the way these people are being treated," Insider's Tom Porter previously reported.
"The president said that he would do everything he could within his powers to help with this situation and he would be taking action to do that," Parson told The Washington Post.