The governor of Missouri said President Trump may intervene in the case of a St. Louis couple who went viral for wielding their guns at protesters marching through their gated community in late June.
Mark and Patricia McCloskey gained national attention for standing outside their home on the evening of June 28 while Black Lives Matter protesters came through their neighborhood to demonstrate outside the St. Louis mayor’s home. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner, a Democrat, said she was “alarmed” by the video of the McCloskeys brandishing their weapons, adding that her office was investigating the incident.
Republican Gov. Mike Parson said during a press conference Tuesday that Trump told him “he would do everything he could within his powers to help with this situation.” He later said he was “thankful that [Trump’s] going to stand up for people and their legal rights.”
Parson told reporters during the press conference that Trump “understands the situation in St. Louis and how out of control it is for a prosecutor to let violent criminals off and not do their job and try to attack law-abiding citizens.”
“I think the president and the attorney general of the United States are going to take a look at it,” Parson said. “The president doesn’t like what he’s seeing and the way these people are being treated. I know the attorney general was represented on that phone call today, so I think you’ll see some sort of actions. I think they’re going to look into things.”
Parson, a former law enforcement officer, was instrumental in the expansion of Missouri’s Castle Doctrine during his time in the state legislature. He said the McCloskeys were exercising their rights under the doctrine to protect their property when protesters came through their neighborhood.
The governor also took aim at the circuit attorney’s office for considering whether the McCloskeys should be indicted.
“What they should not go through is a prosecutor attempting to take their constitutional rights away by filing charges against them for protecting their property,” he said.
Mark McCloskey told Tucker Carlson that “the rumor is that we are going to be indicted shortly,” adding, “I didn’t shoot anybody. I just held my ground, protected my house, and I’m sitting here on television tonight instead of dead or putting out the smoldering embers of my home.”
The couple released a statement soon after the incident gained national attention, affirming their support for the Black Lives Matter movement and emphasizing that most of the protesters were white.
Mark McCloskey told Fox News’s Sean Hannity that he would not be “intimidated” and would not “back down” after police executed a search warrant on his home and police seized his rifle.
Patricia McCloskey said she and her husband faced death threats from protesters and that she heard them talk about how they wanted to take over their home, kill her and her husband, and their dog.
“I don’t want to make it sound like he’s going to come in here and remove somebody from office,” the governor said, “but I’m going to guarantee you the president’s focused on what’s happening here.”
