Parson will pardon St. Louis white couple who pointed guns at BLM protesters

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Missouri Gov. Michael Parson said on Wednesday that he will “most certainly” issue pardons to Mark and Patricia McCloskey if they are convicted of pulling their guns on protesters in late June.
• Parson also suggested that the couple were only exercising their legal rights in protecting themselves and their property.
• As shown in videos, the couple aimed their weapons at Black Lives Matter as protesters passed by their house on their way to Mayor Lyda Krewson’s home.

Missouri Gov. Michael Parson (R) pledged on Wednesday to pardon Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who aimed their guns at Black Lives Matter protesters outside their home, even after the couple was indicted on similar charges the day before.

At Wednesday’s news conference, Parson said that he “most likely would” issue a pardon for the pair if they are convicted over earlier charges that involved felony unlawful use of a weapon in July as well as charges for interfering with evidence in the June incident, which were issued this week, The Associated Press reported.

“We’ll let it play out and see how this all comes out in the courts, but I stand by what I said,” Parsons said.

The governor also offered to issue pardons for the couple back in July following Democratic circuit attorney Kim Gardner’s investigation into the couple for the June 28 incident.

When asked at the time if he’d consider pardoning the couple, Parson said “that’s exactly what will happen” adding that the couple had every right to do what they did during the incident.

According to video footage, the couple was seen in late June yelling and brandishing their weapons at anti-racism protesters who were marching in the gated community where they live while on their way to the nearby home of Mayor Lyda Krewson. At the time, demonstrators were pushing for Krewson’s resignation after the mayor publicly released the activists’ personal details on a live stream.

Later, in an interview with local CBS affiliate KMOV, the pair defended their actions saying they pulled out their guns because they were afraid for their lives, despite protest leader Rasheen Aldrige saying the rally had been peaceful.

The incident has since gained national attention with President Trump and other leading Republicans criticizing the investigations. Trump even suggested that the McCloskeys would have been beaten badly and that their house would have been probably burned down like what the protesters tried to do with churches.

“What you saw happen to us could just as easily happen to any of you who are watching from quiet neighborhoods around our country,” warned Patricia McCloskey during the Republican National Convention in late August.

The couple, who spoke during the address, also denounced the Democratic Party for protecting criminals from honest citizens instead of upholding the government’s job of protecting law-abiding citizens from criminals.

Source: The Hill