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Police Seize Gun From St. Louis Couple Threatened By Mob

St. Louis couple McCloskey guns

Police reportedly executed a search warrant against the St. Louis couple who defended their home against mobs in June, seizing one of their guns.

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Police reportedly executed a search warrant Friday evening, seizing a gun from the St. Louis couple who defended their home against a mob in late June.

Sources told 5 on Your Side, an NBC News affiliate, that police seized the rifle seen in footage of the central west end duo, Mark and Patricia McCloskey, both personal injury attorneys. The couple told police that the pistol brandished by Mrs. McCloskey was in their lawyer’s possession.

When a mob of people stormed through the McCloskey’s neighborhood early last week, in what the media described as a protest en route to the home of St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, the pair wielded firearms in front of their private residence to defend themselves and deter rioters.

“It was like the storming of the Bastille, the gate came down and a large crowd of angry, aggressive people poured through,” Mark McCloskey described the scene to local outlet KMOV4, saying he and his wife, both supporters of Black Lives Matter, were fearful for their lives. “I was terrified that we’d be murdered within seconds. Our house would be burned down, our pets would be killed.”

Mr. McCloskey told CNN’s Chris Cuomo that his private residence is not in fact on the way to the mayor’s house. “The mayor’s house cannot be reached through my neighborhood,” McCloskey said. “No single media outlet has ever mentioned the complete falsity of that statement.”

Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner announced last week she was investigating the couple, saying she was “alarmed at the events that occurred.”

“We must protect the right to peacefully protest, and any attempt to chill it through intimidation or threat of deadly force will not be tolerated,” Gardner said.

Many, including the corporate media, have criticized the couple for waving the firearms at protesters, calling their actions reckless and dangerous. Others have noted that amid rampant lawlessness, efforts to defund police departments, and an absence of strong local and state leadership, the Second Amendment empowers private citizens to protect their lives and their property.

“You have to have this in the context of St. Louis,” Mr. McCloskey told Cuomo. “On June 2 of this year, I watched the city burn. I watched the 7-Eleven get smashed in, looted and burned for 40 minutes on live television with nobody showing up to do anything. And I realized at that time, we’re on our own… I was defending my house, my life, my wife, and what I’ve spent 32 years building there.”