MO: McCloskeys' Convictions Expunged: Demand Return of Guns

 Image screenshot of public announcement by Kim Gardner, disgraced prosecutor 

On June 6, 2024, Judge Joseph P. Whyte ordered the convictions of Mark and Patricia McClosky be expunged.  The McCloskys gained fame for defending their home in St. Louis, Missouri, from an unruly mob of BLM protestors who threatened them. Disgraced prosecutor Kim Gardner brought the prosecutions against the McCloskys. Gardner was politically aligned with the BLM protestors.

The pistol Patricia McClosky brandished appears to have been inoperable. When the police impounded the McCloskys’ guns, it was reported they did not find ammunition for the rifle which was held by Mark McClosky. The McCloskys may have been bluffing.  Eventually Kim Gardner was removed from the case, and the McCloskys negotiated a plea deal to misdemeanor charges. Missouri Governor Mike Parson granted pardons to Mark and Patricia McCloskey on July 30, 2021. The McCloskys were placed on probation for a year, with their law licenses facing suspension, by the Missouri Supreme Court in February of 2022. The pardons for misdemeanors by the Governor did not affect the disciplinary action by the Supreme Court. Both McCloskys are lawyers. The potential loss of their law licenses is a  serious threat.

Now, in 2024, the misdemeanor convictions have been expunged. From the nypost.com:

Attorneys Mark and Patricia McCloskey filed a request in January to have the convictions wiped away. Judge Joseph P. Whyte wrote in an order Wednesday that the purpose of an expungement is to give people who have rehabilitated themselves a second chance, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Most media have characterized the incident as the McCloskys “waving guns at racial justice protestors”. Video of the incident has been shown widely. The entry into the private community was planned and executed by organizers, probably affiliated with BLM. The protestors were unruly. Some of them were armed.

Mark McCloskey, whose convictions have now been expunged, is demanding their guns be returned. The action is mostly symbolic. The firearms may have some value as historical artifacts. The Bryco pistol has little practical value. The AR15 type rifle is likely worth less than a thousand dollars. After what the McCloskeys have been through, a thousand dollars is a relatively small amount. If the City of St. Louis refuses to return the disputed firearms, McClosky has said he will file a lawsuit.

Analysis: The continued persecution of the McCloskys is part of the pattern by the far left to use lawfare to attack anyone who dares to oppose the supremacy of far left street activists. Opposition to the activists who threaten people, destroy property, and intimidate the population, is not to be allowed. The poster child for this is Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  The McCloskys are another example in St. Louis, Missouri.  A third is Daniel Perry in Austin, Texas.

The point is to make it impossible for Americans to exercise their birthright to armed self-defense.  When armed self defense is discredited, the takeover of the streets by leftist thugs will be unopposed. Defense of the individual against a mob does not require significant organization. Such defense is embedded in the United States Constitution with the Second Amendment. The street activists are careful to organize these efforts where the local government, or at least local prosecutors, are ideologically aligned with the street activists. This was certainly the case in Kenosha, in St. Louis, and became the case in Austin when Jose Garza was elected prosecutor.

 ©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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