Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) suggested on Friday that he was prepared to pardon a St. Louis couple if charges were filed against them for brandishing firearms at a group of protestors outside their home.
Speaking on “The Marc Cox Morning Show” on 97.1 FM in St. Louis, Parson was asked about an investigation Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner launched into Mark and Patricia McCloskey. The two were seen in widely shared footage from June pointing guns at a group of protestors who were walking down their street as part of a demonstration.
The McCloskeys claimed in a police report that they felt threatened by the demonstrators and feared that they would assault them or destroy their property. But Gardner said that she would look into the events, noting at the outset of her probe that “we will not tolerate the use of force against those exercising their First Amendment rights.”
Parson strongly pushed back against the impetus for the investigation, saying that the McCloskeys “did what they legally should do.”
“A mob does not have the right to charge your property. They had every right to protect themselves,” he said.