Missouri Governor Mike Parson has pardoned a St. Louis couple who threatened Black Lives Matter activists with guns during the summer 2020 protests. This is reported by AP News.
Parson announced a pardon after Mark and Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to a minor misdemeanor qualified as a threat of low-grade assault. According to a court order, Mark was fined $ 750, and Patricia was fined $ 2,000. The man stated that he would have done the same in a similar situation.
According to AP News, the trial of the spouses took place on June 17, 2021. As a result of the hearing, the judge not only imposed fines on them, but also forced them to surrender to the authorities the weapons with which they threatened the protesters. The court's decision implied the revocation of the spouses' licenses to practice law and possession of weapons.
Before the trial, Mark McCloskey said he wanted to run for the Senate from Missouri. The couple wanted to play the rifle, which the court ordered to surrender, at a charity auction, but they were not allowed.
A married couple clashed with BLM protesters on June 29, 2020. A crowd of 300 people approached the gate of their house, which McCloskey interpreted as an attempt to enter their private property. Then Mark, armed with an AR-15 platform carbine, and Patricia, armed with a semi-automatic pistol, drove the protesters away from their home. A photo of a couple with a gun quickly became popular on social media.
