- The St. Louis couple charged with unlawful use of weapons after pointing guns at Black Lives Matter protesters outside their mansion in June are due to address the Republican National Convention.
- Patricia and Mark McCloskey have been hailed as heroes and defended by President Donald Trump.
- Officials confirmed late Monday that the couple were scheduled to appear at the virtual Republican convention.
- The anti-racism protests that swept America after the killing of George Floyd have become a key topic in this year's presidential election.
The St. Louis couple who threatened Black Lives Matter and anti-racism protesters with guns as the demonstrators marched near their mansion in June are scheduled to address the virtual Republican National Convention, it has been confirmed.
A Republican source told The Washington Post that Patricia and Mark McCloskey were on the billing for next week's event, where they are expected to declare their support for President Donald Trump.
A Republican official later confirmed their scheduled appearance to CNN.
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Nonetheless, prosecutors in St. Louis in July charged them with unlawful use of weapons. Their case has yet to be heard.
Conservatives have praised the couple as heroes, with Trump in a seeming mark of approval retweeting a video of the confrontation in June. He also defended them in an interview with the conservative outlet Townhall.
"They were going to be beat up badly and the house was going to be totally ransacked or burned down like they tried to burn down churches," Trump said.
There is little evidence that the crowd was about to behave violently. The McCloskeys say the protesters broke down a gate to enter the property, but KMOV reported that footage showed that the gate was undamaged during at least part of the incident.
The couple say they were threatened by the protesters, a claim denied by protest leaders, according to CBS News.
The couple have already spoken at a virtual Trump campaign event, CBS reported in July.
The protests that swept the US following the police killing of George Floyd in May have become a central issue to the 2020 election campaign.
Trump has sought to portray the protests as the work primarily of violent anarchists and left-wing mobs, while Democrats have pledged to address the systemic racial inequality that prompted them.
The president has also sought to appeal to the fears of suburban Americans in what critics have alleged is a thinly disguised attempt at racist fearmongering. His actions to woo such voters include reversing an Obama-era rule designed to tackle racial segregation.
Both themes are likely to figure prominently at the convention, as Republicans seek to energize supporters and overturn Trump's polling deficit.
On Monday night, Democrats had launched their virtual convention, where they were addressed by several speakers including the former first lady Michelle Obama.