St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner is facing a growing mountain of criticism for filing charges against a local couple whose armed defense of their home discouraged a crowd of protesters that broke through a gate last month in an apparent effort to vandalize the property.
A video of that encounter raced across the Internet. Mark and Patricia McCloskey have been charged with felonies by Gardner, while Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and Attorney General Eric Schmitt have thrown their support behind the beleaguered couple. Schmitt wants the charges dismissed, and Parson has indicated he might pardon the pair.
Mark McCloskey appeared with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, declaring, “I’m not going to be bullied. I’m not going to be intimidated. The left, the mob, uses social intimidation and threats to get people to knuckle under and apologize for doing what’s right. We are not going to apologize for doing what’s right. We are not going to back down and we are not going to move.”
Gardner has not charged any of the protesters, he noted, although they were the ones damaging property. The widely-circulated cell phone video showing protesters on the McCloskey’s property reveals that the mob decided to go somewhere else when they were confronted by the couple, both armed. McCloskey was holding an AR15 rifle and his wife had a small stainless steel handgun. Both have been confiscated.
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The Missouri Constitution states, “That the right of every citizen to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person and property, or when lawfully summoned in aid of the civil power, shall not be questioned; but this shall not justify the wearing of concealed weapons.”
The state also has a strong “castle doctrine” law.
Schmitt has seemed especially peeved, noting to Fox News, “At a time when there’s calls to defund the police, at a time with skyrocketing violent crime rates – including here in Missouri and in St. Louis – we’ve got a prosecutor now targeting individuals for exercising their fundamental rights under the Second Amendment.”
Even President Donald Trumps has become interested in the case.
MEANWHILE, a new unscientific public opinion poll posted on Twitter by Seattle’s KOMO shows an overwhelming majority of respondents think recent protests in Seattle have had a negative effect on that city’s “quality of life.”
When Conservative Firing Line checked, the poll was heavily lopsided with 81.9 percent saying the city had been affected negatively, while only 18.1 percent thought the protests have been a good thing.
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