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St. Louis couple made national headlines on Jun 28 for pointing guns at peaceful protesters in their gated community. - Mark and Patricia McCloskey, two personal-injury lawyers who are white, were photographed standing outside their mansion brandishing what looked like a semiautomatic weapon and a handgun.
- On Monday, prosecutors charged the pair with
felony unlawful use of a weapon. - "We must protect the right to peacefully protest, and any attempt to chill it through intimidation will not be tolerated," Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner said in a statement.
A white St. Louis couple who gained infamy for drawing guns at
Mark and Patricia McCloskey, two personal-injury lawyers, were standing outside their mansion, pointing what looked like a semiautomatic rifle with an extended magazine and a handgun at people marching through their upscale gated neighborhood. The group was heading to Mayor Lyda Krewson's house to demand her resignation over her doxxing people who supported defunding the police.
On Monday, the Associated Press reported that prosecutors charged the McMcloskeys with felony unlawful use of a weapon.
Kimberly Gardner, the circuit attorney for St. Louis, issued a statement on the matter, saying that the decision to file charges stemmed from an investigation into the encounter, according to a tweet by a St. Louis Public Radio reporter.
"It is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner at those participating in nonviolent protest, and while we are fortunate this situation did not escalate into deadly force, this type of conduct is unacceptable in the city of St. Louis," she said.
Gardner expressed willingness to have the couple participate in a diversion program that is "designed to reduce unnecessary involvement with the courts."
"We must protect the right to peacefully protest, and any attempt to chill it through intimidation will not be tolerated," she added.
For their part, the McCloskeys threw their support behind the Black Lives Matter movement and accused a few violent demonstrators for scaring them.
"The McCloskeys want to make sure no one thinks less of BLM, its message and the means it is employing to get its message out because of the actions of a few white individuals who tarnished a peaceful protest," their attorney, Albert Watkins, said in a statement.
But local reports indicate that this wasn't the first time the McCloskeys reacted aggressively.
They have "nearly constantly sued other people and ordered people off their property," and threatened neighbors at gunpoint, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Expanded Coverage Module: black-lives-matter-module