St Louis gun-toting couple spoke to Trump about case, says they are his 'surrogates' and back his reelection
A St Louis couple who notoriously pointed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters marching in their neighborhood have reportedly spoken about their case to President Donald Trump on Wednesday, October 14.
The couple, Mark and Patricia McCloskey pleaded not guilty to charges related to a confrontation where they had pointed guns at protesters. The pair was charged with unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with evidence from the June 28 incident where they were seen confronting the BLM demonstrators.
Mark was seen holding an AR-15 rifle as Patricia held a semi-automatic pistol. The incident had taken place during nationwide protests and demonstrations against police brutality post the death of 46-year-old George Floyd who died at the hands of the Minneapolis Police.
The McCloskeys' actions were captured on camera and went viral across social media. According to their attorney, Joel Schwartz, the pair have spoken to Trump about their case, Fox News reports. Schwartz said, “They have spoken with him, but I can't go any further.” However, Mark spoke to Fox News on Wednesday and said that Trump had called him and his wife just hours before he had accepted the GOP presidential nomination.
Mark shared, “We certainly appreciated the phone call from him. We've been Trump surrogates now ... We spent four days riding on the team Trump bus in Pennsylvania a couple of weeks ago and been doing everything we can to support the president and help him get re-elected.” Trump himself has taken an active interest in the case and has even defended the McCloskey’s during a July town hall event.
Trump had reportedly said, “They were going to be beat up badly, if they were lucky. And these people were standing there, never used it [weapons] and they were legal, the weapons. And now I understand somebody local, they want to prosecute these people. It's a disgrace.”
A St Louis circuit Attorney Kim Gardner had charged the couple in July and said that the display of weapons had heightened the risk of violence. We had previously reported that the McCloskeys became cultural icons among supporters of Trump following the June incident. Trump has accused the prosecutor of "extreme abuse of power" after she charged the couple with felony unlawful use of a weapon. Both Trump and Missouri Republican Governor Mike Parson slammed the charges against the couple, with the latter saying he will likely pardon them the first chance he gets.
We had also earlier reported that Mark had blamed the “leftist, Democrat government of the city of St. Louis" for the charges, claiming that they were “doing no more than exercising our Second Amendment rights.” “We didn't fire a shot. People were violently protesting in front of our house and screaming death threats and threats of rape and threats of arson. Nobody gets charged but we get charged.”
“The government chooses to persecute us for doing no more than exercising our right to defend ourselves, our home, our property and our family and now we're getting [dragged] here time after time after time and for what?” he continued.