Mark and Patricia McCloskey, charged in July with brandishing weapons at protesters outside the couple’s Portland Place mansion, have been indicted, their lawyer said Tuesday.
Lawyer Joel Schwartz said he was told a grand jury indicted his clients on felony counts of unlawful use of a weapon and evidence tampering. He said he had no details. A St. Louis court clerk said the indictment was filed Tuesday but that she was not authorized to provide a copy.
“I am not surprised that the grand jury indicted them but I’ll certainly be interested in what was presented to the grand jury,” said Schwartz, who plans to request a transcript or recording of the proceedings if such records were made.
A spokeswoman for Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner could not be reached.
Earlier Tuesday, a St. Louis judge postponed the McCloskeys’ morning court appearance until Oct. 14.
The circuit attorney’s office in July charged the McCloskeys each with one felony count of brandishing a gun. Charging documents state that on June 28, Mark McCloskey, 63, pointed an AR-15 rifle at protesters and Patricia McCloskey, 61, wielded a semiautomatic handgun, placing protesters in fear of injury.
Outside the Carnahan Courthouse on Tuesday, Mark McCloskey criticized the City Counselor’s Office for opting against prosecuting protesters for trespassing in Portland Place, a private, gated street. He said the city’s “leftist” government is targeting him and his wife “for doing no more than exercising our Second Amendment rights.”
“The government chooses to persecute us for doing no more than exercising our right to defend ourselves, our home, our property and our family and now we’re getting drug here time after time after time and for what?” Mark McCloskey said. “We didn’t fire a shot. People were violently protesting in front of our house and screaming death threats and threats of rape and threats of arson. Nobody gets charged but we get charged.”
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