A Missouri official has asked the state Supreme Court to suspend the law licenses of Mark McCloskey and Patricia McCloskey, the armed St. Louis couple who confronted Black Lives Matter protesters outside their mansion last year.
Missouri governor Mike Parson announced last month that he had pardoned the couple after Mark McCloskey pleaded guilty in June to misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and was fined $750, while Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment and was fined $2,000.
As the charges were misdemeanors, the couple did not face the possibility of losing their law licenses or their rights to own firearms. However, they had agreed to forfeit the weapons they brandished as hundreds of protesters, who were trespassing in their gated community, and stood outside their home last June yelling threats at them.
Still, Missouri Chief Disciplinary Counsel Alan Pratzel, whose office is responsible for investigating ethical complaints against lawyers in the state, asked the state Supreme Court this week to suspend the McCloskey’s law licenses, according to a court filing first reported by KCUR-FM.
Mark and Patricia McCloskey were admitted to the Missouri bar in 1986, according to the report. The couple works together at the McCloskey Law Center where they represent clients in personal injury, medical malpractice, and defective products cases.
Pratzel argued that while the pardon takes away the conviction, “the person’s guilty remains,” according to the report.
He claimed the incident demonstrated an “indifference to public safety” and involved “moral turpitude,” which is grounds for the discipline.
Mark McCloskey stood on the lawn of their home screaming and pointing a semiautomatic rifle at protesters. His wife then joined him with a semiautomatic handgun, yelling at protesters to “go” and pointing it at them. No shots were fired.
Many have defended the McCloskeys, saying they were legally protecting their $1.15 million house.
The couple heard a loud commotion and saw a large group of people break an iron gate marked with “No Trespassing” and “Private Street” signs, according to a police report.
However, special prosecutor Richard Callahan said his investigation found that the protesters were peaceful.
“There was no evidence that any of them had a weapon and no one I interviewed realized they had ventured onto a private enclave,” Callahan said in a statement after the McCloskeys pleaded guilty in June.
At the time of the incident, the pair received support from then-President Trump, who called the charges against them “disgraceful.” They were also invited to speak at last year’s Republican National Convention.
Mark McCloskey launched a bid for a U.S. Senate seat in Missouri earlier this year.
“Mark is a Conservative outsider who will bring backbone and guts to the US Senate to continue fighting for President Trump’s agenda,” his website says.
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