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   From: nigger-lovers@disney.com   
      
   Mark and Patricia McCloskey say they were defending themselves   
   against violent demonstrators   
      
   St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner said Monday she's   
   charging the couple who flashed guns at a crowd marching to the   
   mayor's office last month, further igniting the gun-rights   
   debate.   
      
   Gardner, the city's top prosecutor, said Mark and Patricia   
   McCloskey will be charged with felony unlawful use of a weapon   
   following the June 28 incident.   
      
   "It is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner -- that   
   is unlawful in the city of St. Louis," Gardner said in a   
   statement. She added that she was recommending a diversion   
   program as an alternative to jail.   
      
   The McCloskeys have said many times they were defending   
   themselves, with tensions high in St. Louis and other cities   
   over race and law enforcement. They said that the crowd of   
   demonstrators broke an iron gate marked with "No Trespassing"   
   and "Private Street" signs, and that some violently threatened   
   them.   
      
   In a statement to Fox News, the couple's attorney, Joel   
   Schwartz, called the charges "disheartening."   
      
   "I, along with my clients, support the First Amendment right of   
   every citizen to have their voice and opinion heard.," Schwartz   
   said. "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."   
      
   The husband and wife told "Hannity" earlier this month they were   
   preparing to sit down for dinner on their porch when "300 to 500   
   people" stormed their community gate and began marching toward   
   them.   
      
   The couple, both attorneys, displayed weapons as Black Lives   
   Matter activists walked onto the private street in their   
   community. They were headed to the home of St. Louis Mayor Lyda   
   Krewson.   
      
   "[They said] that they were going to kill us," Patricia   
   McCloskey recalled at the time. "They were going to come in   
   there. They were going to burn down the house. They were going   
   to be living in our house after I was dead, and they were   
   pointing to different rooms and said, 'That’s going to be my   
   bedroom and that’s going to be the living room and I’m going to   
   be taking a shower in that room.'"   
      
   The husband and wife maintained they were protecting their home.   
   St. Louis police seized the rifle from the home pursuant to a   
   search warrant.   
      
   No shots were fired but the incident quickly went viral and   
   fueled the debate over what rights do property owners have when   
   confronted with perceived threats.   
      
   Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, said Friday he would   
   consider pardoning the couple should they be criminally charged.   
      
   "A mob does not have the right to charge your property," he told   
   Parson told 97.1 FM. "They had every right to protect   
   themselves."   
      
   Parson.s office did not immediately respond to a Fox News   
   request for comment.   
      
   Last week, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., urged Attorney General Bil   
   Barr to investigate Gardner over her decision to investigate the   
   couple, saying the prosecutor has been hostile to gun rights in   
   the past.   
      
   "This is an unacceptable abuse of power and threat to the Second   
   Amendment, and I urge you to consider a federal civil rights   
   investigations," Hawley wrote in a letter to Barr. "No family   
   should face the threat of harassment or malicious prosecution   
   for exercising that right."   
      
   The Associated Press contributed to this report.   
      
   https://www.foxnews.com/us/st-louis-mccloskey-charged-prosecutor-   
   gardner-guns   
       
      
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