Supreme Court Rejects Appeal From McClosky Family

The U.S. Supreme Court has dropped a major decision in a case involving a pair of armed St. Louis lawyers who faced off with a mob of Black Lives Matter supporters in June 2020 who broke into their locked, gated community.

Mark McClosky, armed with an AR-15-style rifle, and his wife Patricia McCloskey, who was armed with a handgun, faced off against a Black Lives Matter-supporting mob that broke through a gate to protest the mayor of St. Louis, who lived down the street.

The McCloskeys later stated they were afraid for their lives after hearing shouted threats of violence from some of the demonstrators.

USA Today adds:

Mark McCloskey pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge and Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment. Missouri Gov. Michael Parson pardoned the McCloskeys in 2021 but the state office responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct by lawyers sought to suspend their law licenses.

The Supreme Court of Missouri in February agreed to suspend the licenses indefinitely but stayed the suspensions and placed the two lawyers on probation for a year. Conditions of the probation included that the McCloskeys provided quarterly reports to a probation monitor – including whether they are charged with additional crimes – and provided 100 hours of free legal services.  

The couple appealed the Missouri Supreme Court ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. In doing so, the couple argued that the state’s highest court violated their Second Amendment rights as well as their right to due process. In court papers, they argued that hey were “exercising lawful rights to bear arms in defense of their person, family, and home.”

Missouri is one of several states with a “Stand Your Ground” law that allows homeowners to defend themselves and their property with arms if they feel threatened; then-state lawmaker Parson helped craft the legislation.

But the nation’s highest court declined to hear their appeal.

CNN reported that there were no known dissents from the high court, suggesting its refusal to take the appeal was unanimous.

The outlet continued:

Images of the McCloskeys brandishing the weapons became national news during the wave “Black Lives Matter” protestors in the wake of the death of George Floyd. Demonstrators were marching down a private street in front of the McCloskeys’ mansion to protest then-Mayor Lyda Krewson’s decision to publish the names and addresses of people in favor of police reform.

In videos posted to social media, Mark McCloskey is seen holding an AR-15 style rifle and Patricia McCloskey a pistol as the protestors walked by, and the images have played a prominent role in Mark McCloskey’s Senate race.

Mark McCloskey told CNN at the time that he was “in imminent fear they (protesters) would run me over, kill me.”

Mark McCloskey’s campaign website has more.

“On June 28, 2020, and then again on July 3, 2020, he and Patty held off a violent mob through the exercise of their 2^nd Amendment rights. Since then, they addressed the Republican National Convention, and have been frequent guests on Fox, Newsmax, OAN, CNN and a variety of national and local news and talk TV and radio programs,” it says

“They campaigned extensively in support of President Trump and continue to speak around the nation on their support of the Constitution, the traditional values that have made the USA the greatest nation on earth, and the current threats to its continued existence,” the website notes further. 

Both of them appeared at the 2020 Republican National Convention, which was held remotely due to the pandemic.

“Mark has never before run for political office, but he has now answered the call of public duty and is running for the United States Senate from Missouri to fill the seat of retiring Sen. Roy Blunt. Mark is a Conservative outsider who will bring backbone and guts to the US Senate to continue fighting for President Trump’s agenda,” the website adds.