St Louis couple who pointed guns at BLM protesters claim cops have footage of armed rioters on their porch
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI: A St. Louis man who grabbed headlines after he and his wife brandished guns at Black Lives Matter protesters has now revealed that authorities already have footage showing armed demonstrators in their front porch. 63-year-old Mark McCloskey and his wife Patricia were seen in a viral video from June 28 holding a weapon outside their palatial home as protestors marched down a private road. On Thursday, the homeowner disputed reports claiming the demonstration was "peaceful."
“You know, the interesting thing is that the media is reporting this as a peaceful protest, and everybody keeping playing the same 32-second clip, or a little tiny bits of a 32-second clip, of an event that went on for 12 or 15 minutes,” McCloskey told Fox News. “Yeah, it was peaceful alright.”
"Later that same night," he added, "that same crowd out in front of Mayor (Lyda Krewson's) house, one of them produced an AK-47 and actually challenged a Channel 5 reporter. And she and her armed guard had to flee. That's how peaceful that protest was."
Police investigators are in possession of video footage showing people in the crowd outside his home "armed with guns," McCloskey said, adding he also saw the weapons and was himself accosted by one protester. "It has come out that the police were aware and have video of people in the crowd in front of my house armed with guns," he told host Sean Hannity.
“We saw the weapons at the time, and as I told you once before, one fella, in particular, pulled out two loaded magazines, showed me them so I could see the shells in the magazine, clicked them together and said, ‘You’re next,’” McCloskey added.
The McCloskeys currently face charges of felony, unlawful use of a weapon, and fourth-degree assault. As reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the couple filed a motion Wednesday seeking to disqualify Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner from the case, saying she had exploited the matter for political gain.
According to them, Gardner cited the case in an email to garner support for her re-election bid for St. Louis circuit attorney. The newspaper reported how she is facing former assistant prosecutor Mary Pat Carl in a Democratic primary next week.
The McCloskeys were reportedly charged three days after Gardner’s July 17 email that “drew a direct line from the incident, which had not yet resulted in criminal charges, to Ms. Gardner's political antagonists, and from there to call for donations to further her re-election efforts," the motion alleged.
The motion sought to disqualify all prosecutors in Gardner's office as well.
"She has indicated through her fundraising emails that she made the decision to initiate charges," the motion said. "A reasonable person would conclude that any member of the (circuit attorney's office) would know the importance the boss places on the case, and that this would color any assistant's decision-making process."
Nonetheless, Missouri Gov. Mike Parsons has reassured the couple that they would be pardoned if they are eventually convicted in the case.
McCloskey said he was comforted by the governor's words, but noted he would still have to “fight the battle” and foot sizeable legal bills before that could happen.
“And put up with all the lies and slander in the press,” McCloskey added.