Police Cite 9 Activists For Trespassing Over Confrontation At McCloskey Household

By Holly Matkin and Christopher Berg

St. Louis, MO – Nine activists who harassed a St. Louis couple at their home in June have been cited for trespassing.

Officials told Fox News that the citations were mailed to nine of the activists.

The citations are the result of a 2 month investigation by St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, according to NPR.

The police department sent the citations to the activists, but prosecutors can still refuse to charge them.

Whew for the folks that cant comprehend, this isnt an admittance to trespassing or validating the McCloskey’s story. It’s a comparison of walking down a street vs. threatening folks with a deadly weapon and policing. Police didn’t send the McCloskey’s citations but sent us them.

— Ohun Ashe 🌻🌼🌞 (@Ohun_Ashe) September 12, 2020

The maximum potential penalty for trespassing is 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Back on June 28, rioters stormed the locked gates of neighborhood while seeking the mayor’s residence.

The group encountered the home of St. Louis attorneys Mark and Patricia McCloskey along the way.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Garnder subsequently charged the McCloskeys with one felony count each of unlawful use of a weapon, after the couple stood outside their own home and displayed guns to defend their property.

Investigators have determined that Mark McCloskey’s semi-automatic rifle was not loaded during the incident, FOX News reported.

The gun that Patricia McCloskey waved at the rioters was an inoperable prop from a court case until prosecutors reassembled it and charged her with a crime.

Patricia and Mark McCloskey had told investigators beforehand that the weapon had been rendered inoperable so it could be used as a prop inside a courtroom for a lawsuit against a gun manufacturer.

However, in order to charge Patricia McCloskey under Missouri law, the gun had to be “readily” capable of lethal use, KSDK reported.

St. Louis Assistant Circuit Attorney Chris Hinckley ordered the crime lab to field strip the pistol.

Documents showed the techs found the gun been assembled wrong and the firing pin spring was put in backward, in front of the firing pin, rendering the weapon inoperable, according to KSDK.

The documents also showed that firearms experts disassembled the weapon and reassembled it properly, then test-fired it to confirm it worked.

Staff in the crime lab photographed the weapon’s disassembly and reassembly, according to KSDK.

But there no was no reference to the fact the gun didn’t work in the charging documents against Patricia McCloskey.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said he would move to have the charges against the couple dismissed shortly after Gardner announced them.

Schmitt submitted a brief that respectfully requested the judge dismiss the charges against Mark and Patricia McCloskey as quickly as possible on the grounds their Second Amendment rights had been violated, FOX News reported.

“The right to keep and bear arms is given the highest level of protection in our constitution and our laws, including the Castle Doctrine, which provides broad rights to Missourians who are protecting their property and lives from those who wish to do them harm,” the attorney general said in a written statement.

“Despite this, Circuit Attorney Gardner filed suit against the McCloskeys, who, according to published reports, were defending their property and safety,” he continued. “As Missouri’s Chief law enforcement officer, I won’t stand by while Missouri law is being ignored.”

Missouri Governor Mike Parson said in July that he plans to pardon the couple if the case against them proceeds to that point.