After agreeing to forfeit multiple firearms, Mark McCloskey and his wife Patricia, whose story went viral last summer when they wielded firearms on the steps of their home as Black Lives Matter demonstrators marched on their property, posted photos on Twitter on Saturday showing off their latest rifle with the caption, “Check out my new AR.”
Last week, the McCloskeys plead guilty to misdemeanor charges and agreed to give up their firearms stemming from the June 28, 2020, incident in which the Missouri couple held an AR-15 and pistol outside their home as a warning to protesters. According to The Associated Press, Mr. McCloskey received a $750 fine for misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and Mrs. McCloskey received a $2,000 fine for misdemeanor harassment.
Following the hearing, McCloskey said he would “do it again” if he felt like his house and family were threatened.
“I’d do it again,” he said outside the courthouse. “Any time the mob approaches me, I’ll do what I can to put them in imminent threat of physical injury because that’s what kept them from destroying my house and my family.”
According to McCloskey, he surrendered the firearms because of Missouri law.
“Let me be clear, I am not surrendering any of my other firearms! I will continue to be one of the strongest advocates for #2A in MO and around the country,” he tweeted. “The two weapons that were seized from me were evidence in a criminal case. Per the state of MO they are to be incinerated.”
McCloskey, who is running for Senate in Missouri, later told Newsmax that he and Patricia originally faced “two felonies each that could land us four years in the slammer.”
“The new prosecutor dropped all the felony charges, all the gun charges and charged me with a crime that said I purposefully placed other people in imminent or physical injury, and by God I did it, that’s what the guns were for. The guns were there to scare people off and make sure they didn’t approach us, and that’s what the guns did,” he said.
Mr. McCloskey told Fox News on Sunday that he and his wife are strong supporters of the Second Amendment.
“We’re strong advocates of the Second Amendment and we’re going to continue to exercise our rights and protect ourselves,” McCloskey told Fox. “We intend to keep our arms and bear them. We’re a constitutional carry state. I will replace those (guns) which the state took.”
After pleading guilty last week, McCloskey tweeted “A year ago, the mob came to my door to attack my family— I backed them down. The mob came for me, the media attacked me & prosecutors tried to punish me for defending my family. They dropped all charges, except for a claim I instilled ‘imminent fear’ in the mob. I’d do it again.”
