st. louis mccloskey
Mark and Patricia McCloskey (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

By Jim Salter, Associated Press

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced Tuesday that he made good on his promise to pardon a couple who gained notoriety for pointing guns at social justice demonstrators as they marched past the couple’s home in a luxury St. Louis enclave last year.

Parson, a Republican, on Friday pardoned Mark McCloskey, who pleaded guilty in June to misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and was fined $750, and Patricia McCloskey, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment and was fined $2,000.

“Mark McCloskey has publicly stated that if he were involved in the same situation, he would have the exact same conduct,” the McCloskeys’ lawyer Joel Schwartz said Tuesday. “He believes that the pardon vindicates that conduct.”

St. Louis McCloskey Kim Gardner
Mark and Patricia McCloskey, stand in front their house along Portland Place confronting protesters marching to St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson’s house in the Central West End of St. Louis. (Laurie Skrivan/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP, File)

The McCloskeys, both lawyers in their 60s, said they felt threatened by the protesters, who were passing their home in June 2020 on their way to demonstrate in front of the mayor’s house nearby in one of hundreds of similar demonstrations around the country after George Floyd’s death. The couple also said the group was trespassing on a private street.

Mark McCloskey emerged from his home with an AR-15-style rifle, and Patricia McCloskey waved a semiautomatic pistol, according to the indictment. Photos and cellphone video captured the confrontation, which drew widespread attention and made the couple heroes to some and villains to others. No shots were fired and no one was hurt.

Special prosecutor Richard Callahan said his investigation determined that the protesters were peaceful.

“There was no evidence that any of them had a weapon and no one I interviewed realized they had ventured onto a private enclave,” Callahan said in a news release after the McCloskeys pleaded guilty.

Mark McCloskey, who announced in May that he was running for a U.S. Senate seat in Missouri, was unapologetic after the plea hearing.

“I’d do it again,” he said from the courthouse steps in downtown St. Louis. “Any time the mob approaches me, I’ll do what I can to put them in imminent threat of physical injury because that’s what kept them from destroying my house and my family.”

Because the charges were misdemeanors, the McCloskeys did not face the possibility of losing their law licenses or their rights to own firearms.

The McCloskeys were indicted by a grand jury in October on felony charges of the unlawful use of a weapon and evidence tampering. Callahan later amended the charges to give jurors the alternative of convictions of misdemeanor harassment instead of the weapons charge.

 

101 COMMENTS

  1. Finally some real justice for the wrongfully and politically persecuted McClosleys.

    The governor held to his word and should be congratulated.

    Now we need the same for Kyle.

    Free Kyle Rittenhouse!

        • “I doubt it.”

          Same here. Along with some obvious trolls, there’s at least one sly one, as well.

          And he, she, it, (or they) has (or have) been really expertly yanking minor’s chain, by the reaction he gets from the twerp… 😉

        • There’s other breaking news, JWM – Did you see the Cuomo ‘news conference’ and the national fallout from it?

          The Cuomo political ‘death watch’ has started, and about fvcking time.

          There are now enough accusers to prosecute his Leftist ass.

          It would be nice to see the look on his face after he’s found guilty and sentenced to hard time… 🙂

        • Watch *carefully* the way the ‘minor’ imposter plies his trade, he really knows how to whack his knee to get that satisfying leg twitch outta him… 😉

        • “He can’t accept that the McCloskeys did nothing in the eyes of the law…”

          Do you know Robbie, the McCloskey’s are both multi millionaire trial attorneys with decades of experience in Missouri courts, and they knew their best option was to cut a deal because they were guilty of committing a crime of violence utilizing a firearm.

          Now that they are pardoned, the conviction still stands and is not automatically expunged by the pardon.

          Honestly, I enjoy reading the Fake Miner’s comments, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. He may camouflage his posts as ridicule, but they actually are signifying that he wishes he was me, with my rugged good looks and charm with the ladies.

          You see, I am from ‘out Wayne’ which makes me just a cut above the average bear. Perhaps our friend JWM can explain what that means to us Southern West Virginia hillbillys…

        • Just Ducked “out Wayne” and the number one entry was….

          “The Out Wayne County Homeless Services Coalition’s mission is to eliminate homelessness in Out Wayne County. The coalition was formalized in April 1996 through a strategy development process from more than 60 agencies.”

          w. outwaynehomeless org

          Number Two; “a ‘cut’ above the average bear.” is

          Out Wayne Tree Service. Tree Service. Open 24 hours. Make Appointment. Contact Us Get Quote

          out-wayne-tree-service.business.site/

          And number three was Miner49er himself! Must see!!!!

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDm0we16pqo

          So yes minor49, major Moron, you are definitely ‘out Wayne’.

        • Apologizes to the good people who might have been swept up in identifying the Marxist buffoon Miner49er.

          You have my respect.

      • Of course it’s not the real deal, except no substitutes!

        Yep, the Republican governor pardoned the Republican candidate for Senate, we’ll see how Mark McCloskey’s bid for a Senate seat progresses, stay tuned…

        Meanwhile, there are some serious issues that the governor is ignoring:

        “Hospital morgues fill as death count climbs in Missouri
        By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH
        July 27, 2021
        A Springfield hospital announced Tuesday that it expanded its morgue capacity amid an increase in COVID-19 deaths, while the Kansas City mayor announced he would reinstate a mask mandate for indoor spaces.

        Missouri has the nation’s fourth-worst COVID-19 diagnosis rate over the past week, with one in every 360 people diagnosed with COVID-19. Its seven-day rolling average of daily deaths has nearly doubled over the past two weeks, according to data from John Hopkins.”

        • I worked in a couple of hospitals back in the day. Their morgues consisted of 2-4 slide out drawers.

          You sea lions are all the same.

        • I think it’s more strawman then sealioning, he isn’t trying to act polite so he changes the subject.

          He can’t accept that the McCloskeys did nothing in the eyes of the law so he deflects to Kansas City COVID. That’s a strawman deflection.

          The McCloskeys live in a PRIVATE gated area of St Louis and the HOA fixed the gate riotous mob knocked of it’s hinges.

          That’s the real Minor but you have to ACCEPT that he is strawmaning and not sealioning.

        • Yeah, Springfield is in Christian Co. Last week their death toll for the entire Covid period was 110. Today it was 113. Not exactly the Black Death.

        • IDK fake miner, it seems… “Except”… for dacian, you have to …”Accept”… that people have spoken and have a clear preference.

          That’s OK, English as a second language can be difficult.

          Can’t give you anything better than a “F”…. even for effort.

  2. Their only crimes were bad trigger and muzzle discipline. I’m glad they were pardoned.

    • Now for justice to be complete, remove and prosecute the crooks that prosecuted them although they were legal by state law.

        • Anytime you bring Hitler into the mix, you’ve lost. Although Haz the coward is obviously used to losing. It’s been almost exactly 7 months since ‘he’ skipped 1/6 Freedom Day despite having the means and motive to be there. All because of two cases of a virus he himself claims is a ‘hoax’ and ‘fakedemic’. Ditch this Nazi loving loser posthaste.

        • ATP. 7 months and you still have not told us what you did for freedom or to prove your courage.

    • Agreed. IMO if they’d handled that better they’d be remembered by gun folks as positively as rooftop Koreans are.

  3. This quote in the story is confusing.

    “Mark McCloskey has publicly stated that if he were involved in the same situation, he would have the exact same conduct,” the McCloskeys’ lawyer Joel Schwartz said Tuesday. “He believes that the pardon vindicates that conduct.”

    • “…..he would have the exact same conduct,” I certainly hope NOT. Their firearm handling/defensive skills were abysmal to say the least. Gov. Parsons should have sentenced them to forty days and nights of defensive gun skills in return for the pardons. By happen stance, attended Mark’s first “political office”rally at Hazelwood “closed” mall parking lot adjacent Cabelas-St. Louis. Mark waved his new AR toy…appeared to be a titanium color AR pistol with brace…..possibly a Sig offering……a little too far away and much too disinterested to be sure. At least he didn’t cover his constituents with its muzzle. Another clown-in-hoping riding his 15 minutes of fame to greater wealth on the taxpayer’s dime. These political hoping clowns should pay We The Little Peeps for the chance to be a “public servant.” Lets see, who wants the job then.

  4. Good. At least here is a reason to vote for this guy. If he runs again. It’s interesting how Tim Pool, a self-described Left winger. Ran away from the Liberal controlled cities, to go live in conservative rural Missouri.

    • I thought Pool moved to rural Pennsylvania, close to the border with West Virginia (?) Both he and Cassandra Fairbanks (a reporter for The Gateway Pundit) say they live a short distance apart, and she lives in West Virginia.

      • I believe he said he moved to Missouri. But I could be wrong. But my point is he and MANY left wingers are abandoning the cities that they “F” up. He supported these destructive policies. And he admits he did support them. Now he says “it’s the far Left”. I like Tim. But he like many Leftists have a “Stalin” deep inside them. And it will come out of them if they let it happen.

      • Having lived near that border 67 of 70 years, although I have traveled a lot, Pool would certainly be welcome in rural West Virginia or the adjacent part of Pennsylvania. Aside from Morgantown and the DC bedroom communities in the Eastern Panhandle it is one of the friendliest parts of North America and a place the locals wouldn’t bother him.

    • Tim Pool lives right on the border of Maryland and West Virginia. He’s also not far from Virginia because he commented they were not far from Loudon County.

      The Missouri claim was from Alex Jones, who was joking at the time.

  5. They were being persecuted, not prosecuted. Get used to it, we’ll be seeing a lot more of that in the future.

  6. “and no one I interviewed realized they had ventured onto a private enclave” yes, smashing down a private gate to enter the enclave in no way would make anyone think they were trespassing… clown

    • I came to the comments just to see if anyone was going to point this out. The McCloskey’s even posted a photo of the damage. It wasn’t just the man gate, but also the main vehicle gate that was completely demolished. The large private road sign is clearly visible in that photo.

      Either Callahan is the most easily fooled DA, or there is something a little bit funny going on around those neck of the woods…

      • The protesters did not smash and enter, someone vandalized the gates after the majority of protesters had moved through.

        And the protesters were never on the McCloskey’s property, they were on the roadway and neither the roadway nor the gate belongs to the McCloskey’s, it belongs to the HOA which declined to pursue trespassing charges.

        • The riotous mob broke the gate in a fit of anger on a private street.
          The HOA fixed the gate with funds from the association.
          It wasn’t worth trying to pursue trespassing charges, the people that live in the subdivision are rich. If you make 10K a day you ignore the petty rioters.
          They don’t have money to pay the fines anyway.
          When the time comes Senator Mark McCloskey will have stronger gates installed to keep the scum out.

      • Some would say ignorance of the law is not an excuse. Same with trespass. Ignorance of the trespass is still a trespass. And McCloskey’s have precedent on their side. After a year of vandalism and riots following these ‘peaceful’ protests why would he expect different. And how would he know they were ‘peacefully’ enroute to the mayors residence? It would be reasonable to expect his actions were proactive in minimizing damage to his property. That prosecutor had his marching orders where only one outcome was acceptable.

      • A conservative is a liberal who’s been mugged . . . or at least who thought it necessary to brandish personal protection at ne’er do wells.

        • …cuz I wazn’t du’ing nutting…

          What’s wrong with a little peep into someone’s window?

          NUTTING!

          But the cops stop me every time I do.

          That’s so abusive!

  7. Those undisciplined klowns covered citizens with their muzzles and got off tRAMP-free.

    Anyone not wearing a badge will feel the burn of incoming rounds if they break that rule with me.

    Just saying.

  8. Lol

    “…social justice demonstrators…”

    No, they were a mob committing vandalism threatening people.

    • Have yet to see it established that they committed any vandalism or threatened anyone before the McCloskeys came out and pointed guns at them.

      • Really?

        It should be obvious but I guess not. They had their guns out AFTER the mob showed up. Otherwise, it would not have been an event and no one would be discussing it or even thinking about it since IT would not have even happened. I guess the mob broke in as a result of them walking around in their front yard with guns…that makes no sense.

        • The marchers were just walking down the street Channing slogans and singing songs, until the McCloskey’s exited their dwellings and start a brandishing their firearms.

          Until that point, the protesters had ignored the McCloskey’s residence, as they had ignored the other residences.

          Of course, once the McCloskey’s started pointing guns and yelling at the protesters, those in the street yelled back.

        • With all of the rioting, burning, looting and murders going on across the United States and in their hometown of St. Louis; the McCloskey’s did what any reasonable person would have done.

          The media continued to declare that the protests were “peaceful” while reporting directly in front of burning businesses. If homeowners see a mob trespassing on their way to participate in some form of civil unrest, than of course a reasonable person will defend themselves and their property.

        • “the McCloskey’s did what any reasonable person would have done“

          So the protesters were marching by on the HOA-owned street, chanting slogans and singing but no one was carrying or pointing firearms at anyone and there were no threats made against any residents in the subdivision.

          And you think it is reasonable to exit your dwelling, brandishing firearms pointed at the people in the street and yell threats?

      • Ah yes, these old people walked outside and then the mob just materialized out of the ether! Angry at being summoned, they then doubled back and fucked up some property, then began hooting angrily at these Wizards who had conjured them from the mists.

        That’s about the only explanation I can come up with to support your lack of evidence Serpent! OR, and just hear me out, a bunch of people fucking lied and you’re either amongst them or a gullible idiot. Get real.

        • No one lied, there’s plenty of video evidence.

          The protesters were marching down the HOA-owned street, on the way to exercise their first amendment rights at the mayor’s house, petitioning the government for a redress of grievances. The marchers had threatened no one and were not displaying or pointing firearms at anyone.

          There was no confrontation until the McCloskey’s voluntarily left their residence, and pointed firearms directly at the people in the streets, while yelling threats.

          The McCloskey’s have been attorneys for decades, they’re worth millions of dollars, and yet they pleaded guilty, why?

          Because they knew they were guilty and they didn’t want to go through court and maybe receive a harsher sentence, so they cut a deal.

        • I’m sorry, none of that happened.
          They were pardoned, never happened in the eyes of the law.
          They’ll have the whole thing expunged when McCloskey is a Senator.

          “The RIOTERS were marching down the PRIVATE HOA-owned street, on the way to exercise their first amendment rights at the mayor’s house, petitioning the government for a redress of grievances.”

          The problem is they committed trespass, threatened to burn peoples houses down and caused willful and wanton destruction of private property. At that point they were criminals and their first amendment rights were suspended, it was an unlawful assembly and not exercising their first amendment rights.
          They were an unruly mob of rioters in the eyes of the law and not protesters.
          Judge Thomas Clark II dismissed Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner for the fear of
          jeopardizing the defendant’s right to a fair trial.

        • “They were pardoned, never happened in the eyes of the law.
          They’ll have the whole thing expunged when McCloskey is a Senator.“

          Oh Danny boy, many people are saying you’re wrong:

          “Pardon Effects
          Pardons symbolize forgiveness for the crime, but usually don’t wipe out guilt or expunge the conviction. This typically means that, where asked, job applicants must disclose the conviction, though they can add that a pardon was granted. It also means courts can consider pardoned offenses when deciding the appropriate punishment for any future crimes.“

          https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/pardons.html

          I find it fascinating that so many on this list will continue to defend the multi-millionaire elites in their gated community, it seems antithetical to the usual narrative of most conservatives.

        • Nolo, the Wikipedia of law. You can do better then that troll.

          Who represented you when you killed your parents?
          Who is going to represent you when “You climb a bell tower and start shooting” or whatever threat to the public you made on here?

          “It also means courts can consider pardoned offenses when deciding the appropriate punishment for any future crimes.“
          They are rich attorneys, it’s not a crime to defend your private property.

          https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/investigations/grand-jury-report-st-louis-circuit-attorney-kim-gardner-office/63-3f7be114-9e26-47e7-a6da-5f30e4853c21

          Kim Gardner is the one who thought she would make a name for herself by charging McCloskey and now it kooks like she will be looking for a new job.

  9. Wouldn’t it be really fun if a follow-on governor could treat pardons of previous governors the same as executive orders, and reverse the pardons?

      • “5th amendment”

        The favored refuge of scoundrels (don’t ask how I know); no fun at all.

      • “Can’t reverse a pardon.”

        Which is why I conditioned the idea with the word “if”.

    • The McCloskeys are still guilty, and stand convicted of a assault involving a firearm:

      “Pardons generally assume the offender is guilty of the underlying offense, and that he or she has been rehabilitated. So, the President or a governor might deny a pardon to an offender who denies guilt. Pardons can be revoked before they’re delivered, but not after they are delivered and accepted—unless the offender fraudulently obtained it.

      Pardon Effects

      Pardons symbolize forgiveness for the crime, but usually don’t wipe out guilt or expunge the conviction. This typically means that, where asked, job applicants must disclose the conviction, though they can add that a pardon was granted. It also means courts can consider pardoned offenses when deciding the appropriate punishment for any future crimes.“

      https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/pardons.html

      • The next job he is applying for is Senator. The voice of the people will be reflected in the number of votes he receives. I don’t expect him to be elected but also expect more than 0 votes.

  10. Take note: An anonymous security guard has the power to kill an unarmed Air Force veteran for trespassing in the US Capitol, but upstanding, law-abiding citizens have no right to merely brandish firearms at a belligerent mob that has breached a gated entry to trespass in their private neighborhood. Got it?

    • Capital police officer not security guard. But if it truly was an armed insurrection as one side maintained, then perhaps lethal force was called for. Armed insurrection or not? How else do you suppress an insurrection?

      • Haven’t seen reports of armed insurrectionists, have you, Gnur Syziminski? Has anyone? Hello? Any indication citizen Babbitt was armed when neutralized? Any testimony from Capitol police officer she was armed? No? Then wtf?

        • Interesting, only firearms are considered as arms?

          These conservatives, always changing the definitions to fit their narrative.

  11. Now that sad excuse at a sorry attempt of an insult has all the originality of a leather bar with a name like “The Man Hole”.

    (Somewhere I suspect you know very well… 😉 )

    • Chewballs knows a lot of truckstop parking lots to. He seems to have a fetish for blowing truckers

    • Hey Jeffy, it looks like your troll got a quick response out of you.

      Dance, little sister dance!

      Of course, what else do you have to do, you spend most of your time eating Cheetos, watching porn, wondering why your penis is turning orange…

  12. I like that picture with the article, the one when they are holding their guns.

    It makes me think:

    Mark McCloskey : (leans over and whispers to his wife) “yeah honey, that guy right there. That guy.”

    Patricia McCloskey: “ok, I got him covered”

    🙂

  13. “There was no evidence that any of them had a weapon and no one I interviewed realized they had ventured onto a private enclave,” Callahan said
    So the protesters were ignorant of the law, now ain’t that special!
    Try telling a cop you didn’t see the speed limit sign.

    • Callahan must have used the same FBI investigators as performed the background check on Kavanaugh?

  14. They should never have been charged in the first place. Standing in front of your home with a gun is not a crime. It was all politics for an obviously biased St. Louis AG. The AG should have been arrested.

    • “Standing in front of your home with a gun is not a crime”

      No, but pointing guns at unarmed people who are not on your property and not a threat to you is indeed a crime, for which the two multi millionaire trial attorneys pleaded guilty.

      And the pardon does not erase their guilt or expunge the conviction

    • “Standing in front of your home with a gun is not a crime.”

      Seems that is jurisdiction dependent. In some places, a person who observes another with a firearm can claim to feel threatened (in fear for their lives), which translates to at least “brandishing”, which can be a crime.

  15. The plea bargain was a good one. No threat to McCloskey’s status practicing law. Some hours of community service at the worst. Heck, they may have been required to take a gun safety and handling class.
    But they’re protected by additional rights few of us can afford or achieve. Just like affluent anti-gun libtards that can afford to hire armed protection most of us must provide for ourselves. Or, the ‘protections’ enjoyed by repeat violators that the justice ‘system’ can not seem to put away. Plus, we’re rightly held responsible for the consequences of not using our rights within limits. Looks more like an erosion and abandonment of the middle class to me.

  16. “the people that live in the subdivision are rich. If you make 10K a day you ignore the petty rioters“

    It is so regrettable that the rich were troubled by the little people exercising their First Amendment right to petition the government for a redress of grievances by speaking truth to the mayor.

    “Mark McCloskey will have stronger gates installed to keep the scum out”

    Thank goodness the millionaires will be able to hide in their gated communities, secure in the knowledge they’ll never be troubled by the voice of the people.

    It’s the American way!

    • Itd be fun to throw rocks at their house early morning 3:00, you know they gotta have the jitters.
      What they did was right rich er not.
      That peaceful bunch went there looking for trouble and they found it.
      And btw Miner49er, did you know the feds put guys in protest marches to stir shit? Probably some of them who tore the gate off.

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