The armed St. Louis couple who confronted Black Lives Matters protesters outside their house are all but guaranteed an immediate pardon if they’re convicted, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said Wednesday.
“We’ll let it play out and see how this all comes out in the courts,” Parson said at a press briefing before saying he would “most certainly” stand by his July pledge to pardon Mark and Patricia McCloskey.
The McCloskeys, who were already charged with unlawful use of a weapon, were indicted for evidence tampering by a grand jury Tuesday.
“They broke down our gate, they trespassed on our property. Not a single one of those people are now charged with anything,” Mark McCloskey said after the hearing. “We’re charged with felonies that could cost us four years of our lives and our law license.”
The activists were on their way to Mayor Lyda Krewson’s house in June when Mark, 63, pulled out an AR-15 rifle and Patricia, 61, waved her semiautomatic handgun at the passing protesters.
The couple have insisted that they were defending themselves, including during a speech at the Republican National Convention.
“Once all the facts are out, it will be clear the McCloskeys committed no crime whatsoever,” their attorney, Joel Schwartz, told KMOV. “Frankly because the grand jury is not an adversarial process and defense counsel are not allowed in there and I have no idea what was stated to the grand jury and what law was given to the grand jury.”
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