McCloskeys to Newsmax: 'We're Not Going to Back Down'

The St. Louis couple who have gained fame after taking guns onto the front of their St. Louis mansion when Black Lives Matter protesters stormed through a gate onto a private street, tell Newsmax TV they have always played by the rules and were terrified when they saw the mob of people storming by their house.

Appearing on "Greg Kelly Reports" on Tuesday, Mark and Patricia McCloskey said they have no intention of entering a diversionary program recommended by Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner.

"We did nothing wrong," Mark McCloskey told host Greg Kelly. "We're not going to back down. We're not going to do what everybody is expected to do these days."

Typically, class E felonies could result in up to four years in prison.

Asked about the events that day, McCloskey said it seemed like "a tenth of a second and our entire lives because there is nothing to stop them."

He said his wife had grabbed a pistol, which he said is no longer operational, and had gone out onto the porch area of the house "as she sees the people are approaching the front door." So he immediately grabbed a rifle and joined her when he saw his wife so close to the protesters shouting at her.

She might have looked calm and cool, but Patricia McCloskey admitted, "I was terrified. We've been people who've played by the rules our whole lives."

Mark McCloskey said the couple has received support from all quarters, including some of their African American clients. They are both personal injury attorneys.

He also challenged claims the community is an all-white or "white supremacist, saying it is multiethic and multi-religion.

"We're probably the only Republicans on the street," he said.

Gardner told The Associated Press their actions risked creating a violent situation during an otherwise nonviolent protest last month.

"It is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner — that is unlawful in the city of St. Louis," Gardner said.

An attorney for the couple, Joel Schwartz, in a statement called the decision to charge "disheartening as I unequivocally believe no crime was committed."

Supporters of the McCloskeys said they were legally defending their $1.15 million home.

Several Republican leaders have condemned Gardner's investigation, including President Donald Trump, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who has urged Attorney General William Barr to undertake a civil rights investigation of Gardner. Parson said in a radio interview Friday he would likely pardon the couple if they were charged and convicted.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said in a statement Monday he filed a brief requesting the charges be dismissed under the state's Castle Doctrine.

"The right to keep and bear arms is given the highest level of protection in our constitution and our laws, including the Castle Doctrine," Schmitt said in the statement. "This provides broad rights to Missourians who are protecting their property and lives from those who wish to do them harm."

Hawley tweeted the charges were an "unacceptable abuse of power and threat to the Second Amendment."

He called for a federal civil rights investigation into the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office to "determine whether this investigation and impending prosecution violates this family's constitutional rights."

Gardner said Trump, Parson, and others are attacking her to distract from "their failed approach to the COVID-19 pandemic" and other issues.

St. Louis, like many cities across the country, has seen demonstrations in the weeks since George Floyd's death in Minneapolis, and the McCloskey's home was initially incidental to the demonstration June 28. Several hundred people were marching to the home of Democratic Mayor Lyda Krewson, a few blocks from the McCloskey's home. Krewson had angered activists by reading on Facebook Live the names and addresses of some who had called for defunding police.

The McCloskeys live on a private street called Portland Place. A police report said the couple heard a loud commotion and saw a large group of people break an iron gate marked with "No Trespassing" and "Private Street" signs. A protest leader, the Rev. Darryl Gray, said the gate was open and that protesters did not damage it.

Mark McCloskey confronted protesters with a semi-automatic rifle, screamed at them and pointed the weapon at them, according to a probable statement from police officer Curtis Burgdorf. The statement said Patricia McCloskey then emerged with a semi-automatic handgun, yelling at protesters to "go" and pointing the gun at them. Protesters feared "being injured due to Patricia McCloskey's finger being on the trigger, coupled with her excited demeanor," the statement said.

No shots were fired.

Photos emerged as memes on both sides of the gun debate.

Trump spoke by phone with Parson last week to criticize Gardner's investigation. Parson, when he was in the legislature, co-authored Missouri's "castle doctrine" law that justifies deadly force for those who are defending their homes from intruders. He has said the McCloskeys "had every right to protect their property."

Gardner declined to discuss why she decided the castle doctrine did not apply.

Schwartz said the McCloskeys "support the First Amendment right of every citizen to have their voice and opinion heard. This right, however, must be balanced with the Second Amendment and Missouri law, which entitle each of us to protect our home and family from potential threats."

Gardner, St. Louis' first Black circuit attorney, has been at odds with some in the St. Louis establishment since her election in 2016. Most notably, her office charged then-Gov. Eric Greitens with felony invasion of privacy in 2018 for allegedly taking a compromising photo of a woman during an extramarital affair. The charge was eventually dropped, but Greitens resigned in June 2018.

A private investigator Gardner hired to investigate the claims against Greitens was later indicted for perjury for allegedly lying during a deposition. His case is pending.

Gardner also has butted heads with police leaders, especially after she developed an "exclusion list" of more than two dozen officers who were barred from serving as primary witnesses in criminal cases over what Gardner called credibility concerns. The move angered Police Chief John Hayden, who also is Black.

In January, Gardner filed a federal lawsuit accusing the city, the police union and others of a coordinated and racist conspiracy aimed at forcing her out of office. The lawsuit also accused "entrenched interests" of intentionally impeding her efforts to change racist practices.

Several Black leaders in St. Louis have expressed support for Gardner, including Democratic U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, who has said protesters "should never be subject to the threat of deadly force, whether by individuals or by the police."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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