The guns used by Mark and Patricia McCloskey during a now-infamous incident in front of their St. Louis home weren’t destroyed last year, despite a court order to do so.
Now, after being pardoned by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, the couple is suing to get them back.
“The loss of that property would certainly be a legal disqualification, impediment or other legal disadvantage, of which I have now been absolved by the governor, and therefore the state no longer has any legitimate reason to hold the property,” Mark McCloskey said at a hearing this week.
The couple earned national attention in 2020 for brandishing two firearms at Black Lives Matter protestors who had broken into their gated neighborhood. Mark McCloskey stood outside holding a Colt AR-15 while his wife brandished a Bryco handgun chambered in .380.
No one was injured and no shots were fired, but the McCloskeys pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges and the guns were supposed to be destroyed. For some reason, that never happened.
SEE ALSO: Grand Jury Indicts McCloskeys on Felony Charges
“Obviously with our customary efficiency, we should have destroyed (the weapons) months ago,” Robert Dierker of the St. Louis City Counselor’s Office said at the hearing. “We haven’t. So, McCloskey’s a beneficiary of bureaucratic, I want to say, ineptitude. But in any event, it’s fortuitous that the weapons still exist.”
The McCloskeys haven’t been wanting for firearms. Back in June, the couple posted pictures of themselves purchasing new firearms, and at least 50 people have offered to replace the AR-15 that was seized.
Still, now that the McCloskeys have been pardoned, they’re asking the courts to return their property and reimburse them for the fines they accrued. They’ve asked the court to refund $872.50 in fines paid, and they’ve estimated the value of the handgun at $400 and the rifle at $1,500, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
SEE ALSO: St. Louis Couple Who Defended Themselves from BLM Protesters Speak at 2020 RNC
The city argues that while the governor’s pardon removed the convictions, it did not obliterate the plea bargain in which the McCLoskeys forfeited their guns.
“We do not think he can demonstrate the right to immediate possession,” Dierker said.
Circuit Judge Joan Moriarty is currently considering the case.
The couple, both of whom are lawyers, has tried to stay in the public eye since the incident. They’ve spoken at the Republican National Convention and made an appearance at the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. Mark McCloskey is also running for the U.S. Senate seat in Missouri.
My name is everywhere.
— Mark McCloskey (@mccloskeyusa) October 27, 2021
The people love freedom-fighters.
Where I go, freedom will follow. People are noticing! pic.twitter.com/GLDOVYr1Jm
DOWN with the Damm Demicraps, Bidens, Harris, Pelosi, Shumer, the Squad. Send them all back home to
play with tinker toys, wood blocks, learn how to bake cookies. And stay out of every one elses business.
I’m a Missourian and I’m leaning towards backing Mr mccloskey to take blunts place we just need to make sure he can beat any democrap running for it. I don’t know about you guys but I’ve never liked the sewer rat who leads the senate now. Never will.
They were only charged because the DA Kim Gardener is a POS liberal. She won’t charge actual criminals but went after the McCloskeys because they had guns out during the BLM (burn loot and Murder) protests and wouldnt bow down. Hopefully the B gets what she deserves .
The McCloskey’s didn’t use either firearm. They were holding them but not a shot was fired. When are people going to pull their heads out of their asses and stop voting for democrats? The democrats haven’t done a thing for poor people for a long time yet so many still vote for them. The George Soros’ funded DAs in this country are destroying this country and need to be removed from office.
I understood that a least the pistol that was confiscated was tampered with by a LE Agent to make a stronger case and that alleged crime was not pursued at this point. The left ruind everything.
The fact that they were coherst into pleading to false charges should give them the right to sue not just to get their stolen property back but also to recoup all financial losses. And also punitive damages for trumped up charges and wrongful prosecution.
They have been pardoned and aren’t felons, so they deserve to get their property back 👍
Agree 100%, they are crime victims and should get their firearms back. Same for Kyle.