Missouri Gov. Mike Parson pardoned Mark McCloskey and Patricia McCloskey on Tuesday, the white couple from St. Louis who had in June pleaded guilty for waving guns at Black Lives Matter protesters.Under a plea agreement, Mark McCloskey and Patricia McCloskey both pleaded guilty in the fourth degree to assault. Patricia McCloskey also pleaded guilty in the second to harassment under the supervision of a special prosecutor. The special prosecutor observed that protesters walking past McCloskey's mansion were peaceful, despite the couple's claim that they felt threatened.Parson had planned to pardon the couple for some time now. He told Sean Hannity last year on Fox News that the McCloskeys were entitled to their privacy.Parson stated, "I will do everything within the Constitution of Missouri to protect law abiding citizens and those people are exactly that." Parson said that McCloskeys were being "attacked by a political proces" and it was "a sad day" for Missouri.The McCloskeys holding weapons while peaceful crowd passed captured national attention in June 2020. They then went on a conservative press trip. They were prominent speakers at the 2020 Republican National Convention. Mark McCloskey launched a campaign for Senate and featured the photos on his campaign site.Joel Schwartz, an attorney representing the McCloskeys, said Tuesday that the couple was "thrilled” by the pardon. He felt vindicated.He said that the senators were looking forward to putting aside this particular episode in their lives and focusing on Mark's campaign for the US Senate. "Mark has stated publicly that he would do the exact same thing he did if he were in the same situation."The couple pleaded guilty and were ordered to pay $750 and $2,000 in fines and to surrender their weapons to the state.Continue the storyThe couple did not have a criminal record and called the police before they pointed their guns at protesters. Shots were not fired. A plea agreement was reached.According to Richard Callahan (the case's special prosecution), the protesters were peaceful and accidentally ended up on private property.The prosecutor stated that there was no evidence that any of them owned a weapon, and that no one interviewed knew they had entered a private enclave.Continue reading
