Missouri AG vows to dismiss charges against St Louis couple who waved guns at BLM protesters over ‘2nd amendment rights’
MISSOURI Attorney General Eric Schmitt has moved to dismiss charges against a couple who waved weapons at Black Lives Matter protestors in St. Louis last month, according to reports.
Patricia McCloskey, 63, and Mark McCloskey, 61, were charged with felony unlawful use of a weapon on Monday after a video of their actions on June 28 went viral.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, the city’s top prosecutor, said in a statement: “It is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner – that is unlawful in the city of St. Louis.”
But reported that Schmitt had filed a brief seeking to dismiss charges against the McCloskeys on the ground of their Second Amendment rights being violated.
Schmitt said in a statement: “The right to keep and bear arms is given the highest level of protection in our constitution and our laws, including the Castle Doctrine, which provides broad rights to Missourians who are protecting their property and lives from those who wish to do them harm.”
MOVE TO DROP CHARGES
Missouri’s “castle doctrine” is a law that justifies deadly force for those who are defending their homes from intruders.
In her statement, Gardner did not discuss why this doctrine didn’t apply.
Schmitt added: “Despite this, Circuit Attorney Gardner filed suit against the McCloskeys, who, according to published reports, were defending their property and safety. As Missouri’s Chief law enforcement officer, I won’t stand by while Missouri law is being ignored.”
Several Republican leaders have also condemned Gardner’s investigation, including President Trump and Senator Josh Hawley, who has urged Attorney General William Barr to undertake a civil rights investigation of Gardner.
VIRAL VIDEO
In the viral footage of the incident, Patricia and Mark were seen pointing a handgun and a rifle, respectively, at unarmed Black Lives Matter protesters who were non-violently marching through the McCloskeys’ neighborhood.
The protesters were on their way to continue their demonstration outside the home of St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson.
The couple faces additional misdemeanor charges of fourth-degree assault.
On July 15, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley called on the Department of Justice to investigate the Attorneys Office for threatening to prosecute the couple.
He falsely claimed that the McCloskeys were law-abiding citizens exercising their constitutional rights, and that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner was abusing her power by
, according to statements they gave to Fox News.
Local authorities executed a search warrant of the McClosky mansion in early July, seizing the rifle that Mark McClosky was brandishing in the footage.
Around the same time, a lawyer for the couple stated that Patricia’s handgun was, and continues to be, inoperable.