The gun Patricia McCloskey waved at Black Lives Matters protesters was incapable of firing and St. Louis prosecutors ordered that it be reassembled to make it "readily capable of lethal use" so that they could charge her with a crime, according to a local NBC affiliate.
Mark and Patricia McCloskey were each charged on Monday with one count of unlawful use of a weapon by St. Louis circuit attorney Kimberly Gardner, a Democrat.
- The charges came after Gardner’s office investigated video of the McCloskeys brandishing firearms at protesters trespassing in their private St. Louis neighborhood on June 28.
Charging documents filed Monday revealed that assistant circuit attorney Chris Hinckley directed crime lab workers to disassemble and reassemble the McCloskey's handgun, which resulted in the gun becoming operable, KSDK reported.
- After field stripping the weapon, workers discovered the firing pin spring was in front of the firing pin, which was facing the wrong direction, and the gun could not fire.
- They reconstructed the firearm correctly and, after conducting a firing test, found the weapon was now capable of shooting.
The McCloskeys knew the gun didn't work: As part of a past lawsuit, the McCloskeys intentionally made the handgun inoperable to bring it into a courtroom.
- The McCloskeys attorney, Joel Schwartz, said the gun was incapable of firing when Patricia McCloskey waved it at protesters.
- “It’s disheartening to learn that a law enforcement agency altered evidence in order to prosecute an innocent member of the community,” Schwartz told KSDK.
The law: In Missouri, authorities are required to show a weapon is "readily capable of lethal use" in order to convict someone of unlawful use of a weapon.
An American couple: The McCloskeys, both trial attorneys, became a cause celebre on the right after footage went viral of the couple brandishing firearms and facing down the crowd of anti-racism protesters that had marched into their neighborhood.
- Many conservatives have held up the couple as champions of law and order and living arguments for the Second Amendment.
- In memes and social media posts, the McCloskeys drew praise for their home maintenance in addition to their perceived bravery.
- Their cause has been taken up by President Donald Trump, who said last Tuesday that prosecution of the couple was a “disgrace," as well as Missouri's Republican governor, Mike Parson, and the state's attorney general, Eric Schmitt.
Gardner's office did not immediately respond to We'll Do It Live's request for comment, and told KSDK it could not comment on a pending case.
