This is being framed as a win.

They only pleaded guilty to one charge, and only surrendered the guns that were actually being used in the defense action.

It’s still a pretty humiliating headline.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who waved guns at protesters last year who marched past the couple’s Central West End mansion, pleaded guilty Thursday to misdemeanors and agreed to give up their weapons.

Mark McCloskey, 64, will pay a $750 fine after pleading guilty to fourth-degree assault, a Class C misdemeanor. Patricia McCloskey, 62, must pay a $2,000 fine after pleading guilty to second-degree harassment, a Class A misdemeanor. Mark McCloskey could have faced up to 15 days in jail; Patricia McCloskey could have spent up to a year behind bars. Neither will face jail time.

“This particular resolution of these two cases represents my best judgment of an appropriate and fair disposition for the parties involved as well as the public good,” the special prosecutor in the case, former U.S. Attorney Richard G. Callahan, said in a statement.

The McCloskeys also agreed to forfeit the weapons they used when they confronted a throng of protesters marching past their Portland Place mansion on June 28, 2020. The McCloskeys emerged from their home and waved guns at the demonstrators. They claimed the protesters were trespassing by entering their gated, private street.

That’s not a “claim,” it’s on video.

After accepting the McCloskeys’ pleas in court Thursday, Circuit Judge David Mason denied the couple’s request that Mark McCloskey’s rifle be donated for use in charity fundraisers. The McCloskeys’ lawyer Joel Schwartz said the couple would have liked to donate the rifle to the Missouri Historical Society or “for auction to the (St. Louis) Children’s Hospital.”

Mark McCloskey, outside the Carnahan Courthouse, said “this is a good day for the McCloskeys,” expressing no remorse for his actions.

“The prosecutor dropped every charge except for alleging that I purposely placed other people in imminent risk of physical injury, right, and I sure as heck did,” he said. “That’s what the guns were there for and I’d do it again any time the mob approaches me. … In other words, I stood out on the porch with my rifle and made them back up. And that’s what I’d do again. If that’s a crime in Missouri, by God I did it, and I’d do it again.”

Patricia McCloskey declined to comment.

Mark McCloskey announced in May that he’s running for U.S. Senate.

The couple were indicted last year on charges of unlawful use of a weapon and evidence tampering, both felonies. Mark McCloskey wielded an AR-15 rifle at racial justice protesters, and Patricia McCloskey pointed a semiautomatic handgun at them as they marched past their home. The crowds entered through an iron pedestrian gate to access Portland Place on their way to former Mayor Lyda Krewson’s home in the Central West End.

The protesters, Callahan said, “were a racially mixed and peaceful group, including women and children, who simply made a wrong turn on their way to protest in front of the mayor’s house. There was no evidence that any of them had a weapon and no one I interviewed realized they had ventured into a private enclave.”

The McCloskeys told police the protesters broke the gate to get in.

It looks like McCloskey wanted to end the case so he did have the issue in his Senate run.

Missouri couple Mark and Patricia McCloskey have plead guilty to misdemeanor charges for showing their firearms near protesters last year.

Mark tells his story to Greg Kelly. "If that's a crime in Missouri, I did it, and I'll do it again." pic.twitter.com/uIhEfZlM5W

— Newsmax (@newsmax) June 17, 2021

Otherwise, you probably wouldn’t agree to have done anything wrong in this situation.

Just a peaceful kid pretending to point a gun at the McCloskeys.

Patricia McCloskey pretending to be scared just so that she could point her gun at people.

Peaceful black rioters

We all knew this was coming.

AP:

A grand jury on Tuesday indicted the St. Louis couple who displayed guns while hundreds of racial injustice protesters marched on their private street.

Al Watkins, an attorney for the couple, confirmed to The Associated Press the indictments against Mark McCloskey, 63, and Patricia McCloskey, 61. A spokeswoman for Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner declined comment.

The McCloskeys, who are both attorneys, have become folk heroes among some conservatives. They argue that they were simply exercising their Second Amendment right to bear arms, and were protected by Missouri’s castle doctrine law that allows the use of deadly force against intruders. The case has caught the attention of President Donald Trump, and Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has said he will pardon the couple if they are convicted.

‘An outrageous abuse of power’: Republicans decry prosecution of McCloskeys, who trained guns on protesters

The McCloskeys also were featured speakers on the first night of the Republican National Convention. They’ve accused the “leftist” Democratic St. Louis leadership for their plight.

Gardner, a Democrat, charged the couple with felony unlawful use of a weapon. She said the display of guns risked bloodshed at what she called an otherwise peaceful protest.

Watkins said that in addition to the weapons charge, the grand jury indictment includes a tampering with evidence charge. It wasn’t clear what led to that additional count, he said.

The McCloskeys contend the protest was hardly peaceful. They say protesters came onto the private street after knocking over an iron gate and ignoring a “No Trespassing” sign, and said they felt threatened.

Watkins said accusations against the McCloskeys are “effectively demonstrating the highest degree of ineptitude and inappropriate behavior” from Gardner’s office.

The incident happened June 28 as protesters were walking toward the home of Mayor Lyda Krewson, a few blocks away. They suddenly decided to veer onto the McCloskeys’ street, prompting the confrontation that was caught on cellphone video. It showed Mark McCloskey in front of the $1.15 million home armed with an AR-15 rifle and Patricia McCloskey with a semiautomatic handgun.

A police probable cause statement said protesters feared “being injured due to Patricia McCloskey’s finger being on the trigger, coupled with her excited demeanor.”

Nine people involved in the protest were charged with misdemeanor trespassing, but the city counselor’s office later dropped the charges. The city counselor’s office handles lesser crimes and is not affiliated with the circuit attorney’s office.

This is an obvious public spectacle meant to intimidate the entire public, to send a message to the population that you cannot fight back against this mob, and if you do, you will be humiliated, and your life will be destroyed.

Everyone involved in this knows what’s going on.

They are sending you a message.

They’re not shy about it.