Patricia N. McCloskey and Mark T. McCloskey are seen standing in front of their house while they face protestors marching to St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krawson's home on June 28, 2020. Laurie Skrivan/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Tribune News Service via Getty ImagesThe firearms of the St. Louis couple that allegedly brandished guns at BLM protesters in July are being sued.Patricia and Mark McCloskey pleaded guilty misdemeanor charges, and surrendered their weapons.Mark McCloskey, however, stated in a lawsuit that he wants his guns returned now that Missouri's governor has pardoned.For more stories, visit Insider's homepage.Mark McClosky of St. Louis was photographed last summer wielding guns at Black Lives Matter demonstrators marching down his private street. He filed a lawsuit Wednesday in an attempt to get his weapons back.McClosky and Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in June and agreed to surrender their firearms.However, Missouri's Republican Governor. On August 3, Mike Parson pardoned McClosky and his wife. On August 3, Mike Parson pardoned the couple.The lawsuit claimed that Missouri has no right to possess or retain the firearms and funds mentioned above. It demanded two guns back from the couple along with almost $900 in fines.After being seen outside their house on June 28, 2020 during a racial justice demonstration, the couple became national news after they were photographed together. This was just weeks after George Floyd's death. Patricia McClosky held a semiautomatic,.223 caliber rifle while Mark McClosky held a semiautomatic pistol.Later, the couple claimed that they were armed because they felt threatened and intimidated by protesters who marched down their private street Portland Place en route to their house.The McCloskeys did not fire on the protesters and nobody was hurt in the melee. Richard Callahan, the Special Prosecutor, argued that firing on the protestors with guns was dangerous and unreasonable, as none of them had been armed or realized that they were marching through private property.Continue the storyAlthough the couple were initially charged with felonies at the time, the charges were later downgraded to misdemeanors. This means neither of them will lose their law licenses or their rights to own firearms.Patricia McClosky eventually pleaded guilty misdemeanor harassment, and was fined $2,000. Mark McClosky pleaded guilty misdemeanor fourth degree assault and was fined $775.After his guilty plea, Mark McClosky said to media that he would "do it again", and was unapologetic about it.He said, "Anytime the mob approaches me I'll do my best to put them under imminent threat of injury because that's how they kept my house and family from being destroyed."Mark McClosky is running for the US Senate seat. Insider reached out to Patricia McClosky and McClosky for comment but they did not immediately respond.Many prominent Republicans, including Donald Trump's former president, have spoken in support of the couple. Trump called their prosecution "a disgrace" while Parson had promised them for more than a decade to pardon them if they were convicted.Insider has the original article.
