The St. Louis couple guns incident refers to the June 28, 2020, confrontation in which personal injury attorneys Mark and Patricia McCloskey pointed firearms at Black Lives Matter protesters walking past their home in a private gated neighborhood. The couple were charged with felonies, pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, were pardoned by Missouri’s governor, had their law licenses suspended, saw their records expunged in 2024, and finally recovered their seized firearms in 2025. Mark McCloskey also ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate.
What Happened on June 28, 2020
Several hundred protesters marched through the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis that evening, headed for the home of then-Mayor Lyda Krewson. She had drawn criticism for reading out the names and addresses of residents who supported defunding the police during a Facebook Live session. The march route cut through Portland Place, a private street marked with “No Trespassing” and “Private Street” signs and enclosed by stone and iron gates.1BBC. St. Louis Couple Who Waved Guns at BLM Protesters2Fox Business. Portland Place St. Louis McCloskey Gated Community
Mark McCloskey came out of his home with a semi-automatic rifle and stood on the patio yelling at the demonstrators to leave. About a minute later, Patricia McCloskey came outside with a small silver handgun and pointed it at people on the sidewalk. The standoff lasted roughly twelve minutes before the group moved on. No shots were fired, and there was no physical contact between the couple and the marchers.1BBC. St. Louis Couple Who Waved Guns at BLM Protesters36ABC. St. Louis Gun-Waving Couple McCloskey Pardon
One point stayed in dispute throughout the case. Mark McCloskey said protesters “smashed through” a locked wrought-iron gate. Video from that night showed an apparently intact gate being held open for the first demonstrators to enter, though the gate did sustain damage at some later point in the evening. Who damaged it and when was never established. A St. Louis Post-Dispatch analysis found the protesters stayed on the street and sidewalks and did not step onto the McCloskeys’ private property.1BBC. St. Louis Couple Who Waved Guns at BLM Protesters4Seattle Times. McCloskeys Make First Court Appearance in St. Louis Gun Case
The Criminal Case, Plea Deal, and Pardon
On July 10, 2020, city police searched the McCloskeys’ home and seized both firearms. Ten days later, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner charged the couple with felony unlawful use of a weapon. In October, a grand jury indicted them on that count plus tampering with evidence. The tampering charge was based on allegations that Patricia McCloskey’s Bryco semi-automatic pistol had been altered between June 28 and July 1, 2020. The couple’s original attorney had previously said the pistol was inoperable, having been used as a courtroom prop in an earlier lawsuit against a gun manufacturer.1BBC. St. Louis Couple Who Waved Guns at BLM Protesters5Fox 2 Now. Indictments Allege McCloskeys Altered Pistol Leading to Evidence Tampering Charge
The case became an immediate flashpoint. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a brief supporting dismissal, citing the Second Amendment and Missouri’s castle doctrine. Governor Mike Parson pledged to pardon the couple if they were convicted, and President Donald Trump publicly backed them.1BBC. St. Louis Couple Who Waved Guns at BLM Protesters
On June 17, 2021, the McCloskeys resolved the criminal case with a plea deal. Mark McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and was fined $750. Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment and was fined $2,000. Both agreed to forfeit the AR-15 rifle and the Bryco handgun. Judge David Mason denied their request to donate or auction the weapons instead. Special prosecutor Richard Callahan stated that his investigation had determined the protesters were peaceful, unarmed, and unaware they had entered a private enclave.6NPR. Patricia, Mark McCloskey Plead Guilty to Misdemeanors7NPR. Missouri Governor Pardons the St. Louis Lawyers Who Waved Guns at BLM Protesters
Parson signed pardons for both McCloskeys on July 30, 2021, and announced the decision on August 3. Mark McCloskey was unapologetic. “I’d do it again,” he said. “Anytime the mob approaches me, I’ll do what I can to put them in imminent threat of physical injury because that’s what kept them from destroying my house and my family.”8OPB. Court Asked to Suspend Law Licenses of Gun-Waving Couple
Why the Prosecutor Was Removed
Defense attorney Joel Schwartz argued that Gardner’s decision to file charges was politically motivated. He pointed to two campaign fundraising emails she sent within a five-day window of the July 20 charging decision, both naming the McCloskeys and highlighting the case.9Courthouse News Service. St. Louis Judge Dismisses Prosecutor From McCloskey Case
On December 10, 2020, Circuit Judge Thom Clark II issued a 22-page order disqualifying Gardner and her entire staff from prosecuting Mark McCloskey. He wrote that Gardner’s conduct “raises the appearance that she initiated a criminal prosecution for political purposes.” Because she served as both candidate and campaign treasurer, he found, her personal interests and prosecutorial role were “almost indistinguishable.” It was “unnecessary to stigmatize defendant — or even mention him — in campaign solicitations,” he wrote, calling the conduct a violation of professional conduct rules.10NPR. Prosecutor Removed in Case Involving Couple Who Brandished Guns at BLM Protesters Gardner’s representative said the emails responded to attacks from Republicans and contained information the McCloskeys had already made public themselves.9Courthouse News Service. St. Louis Judge Dismisses Prosecutor From McCloskey Case
In February 2021, St. Louis Circuit Presiding Judge Steven Ohmer appointed Callahan, a senior Cole County circuit judge and former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, to take over both cases as special prosecutor.11Missouri Lawyers Media. Callahan Named as Prosecutor in McCloskey Cases
Discipline Against Their Law Licenses
The pardon erased the convictions, but Missouri Chief Disciplinary Counsel Alan Pratzel noted in court filings that even with a pardon, “the person’s guilt remains.” In September 2021 he asked the Missouri Supreme Court to indefinitely suspend both attorneys’ law licenses, arguing their crimes involved “moral turpitude” and “indifference to public safety.”8OPB. Court Asked to Suspend Law Licenses of Gun-Waving Couple
In February 2022, the Missouri Supreme Court indefinitely suspended both law licenses but stayed the suspensions, placing the couple on one year of probation instead. They were required to submit quarterly written reports on any arrests, charges, lawsuits, or disciplinary complaints, and to complete 100 hours of pro bono work.12KCUR. Missouri Supreme Court Disciplines St. Louis Lawyers Who Waved Guns at BLM Protesters The court later rejected their effort to satisfy the pro bono requirement by representing the conservative group Project Veritas, specifying that the hours had to be served through organizations providing free legal services to indigent Missouri residents.13Missouri Lawyers Media. McCloskeys Can’t Fulfill Probation by Representing Project Veritas
Mark McCloskey’s Senate Run
Mark McCloskey announced a U.S. Senate campaign in Missouri in May 2021, running as a Republican and leaning hard on his image from the confrontation. His campaign website featured a photograph of him holding the AR-15 that night. He ran on anti-establishment themes and emphasized the Second and Tenth Amendments, energy independence, and opposition to federal police-reform measures.14KSDK. Mark McCloskey Republican Candidate Senate Missouri Primary 202215St. Louis Public Radio. Mark McCloskey Shakes Up Already Unpredictable Missouri U.S. Senate Race
The field was crowded, including former Governor Eric Greitens and Attorney General Eric Schmitt. In the August 2, 2022, primary, McCloskey took 19,540 votes, or 3.0% of the total.16Missouri Secretary of State. Primary Election Results, August 2, 2022
Before the campaign, the McCloskeys had already spoken on the opening night of the 2020 Republican National Convention on August 24, 2020, while still facing felony charges. Mark McCloskey told viewers that “not a single person in the out-of-control mob that you saw at our house was charged with a crime. But you know who was? We were.” Patricia McCloskey warned that “no matter where you live, your family will not be safe in the radical Democrats’ America.”17Politico. McCloskey Convention Speech18The Guardian. St. Louis Couple RNC Mark Patricia McCloskey
Expungement and Getting the Guns Back
In January 2024, the McCloskeys petitioned to have their misdemeanor convictions expunged. On June 5, 2024, Judge Joseph P. Whyte granted the request over the objections of city police and prosecutors, writing that “expungement is meant to give people a second chance if they have rehabilitated themselves.” On July 1, 2025, the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District upheld the expungement and rejected the police department’s claim that the couple posed a threat to public safety.19First Alert 4. Judge Expunges McCloskey Couple’s Misdemeanor Records20Fox 2 Now. Court Upholds Expungement of McCloskeys’ Misdemeanor Cases
The expungement mattered because the pardon alone had not been enough to recover the forfeited guns. Courts had ruled the pardon did not “extinguish his guilt or the consequences flowing from his guilty plea,” including the firearm forfeiture.21St. Louis Public Radio. St. Louis Police Department Returns Rifle to Mark McCloskey
In late July 2025, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department returned the AR-15 rifle to Mark McCloskey under court order. He posted on X, “It only took 3 lawsuits, 2 trips to the Court of Appeals and 1,847 days, but I got my AR15 back!”21St. Louis Public Radio. St. Louis Police Department Returns Rifle to Mark McCloskey The Bryco pistol, held separately by the St. Louis sheriff’s department, came back in September 2025 after 1,882 days in custody.22Audacy KMOX. McCloskey Gets His Gun Back From the St. Louis Sheriff
The Photographer Lawsuit
On November 6, 2020, the McCloskeys sued UPI photographer Bill Greenblatt, United Press International, and the online marketplace Redbubble in St. Louis Circuit Court. They alleged that Greenblatt trespassed on their property to take the widely circulated photograph, and that Redbubble sold merchandise using their likeness without consent, including items with what they called “mocking and pejorative taglines” such as “Ken & Karen.” They sought damages for humiliation, mental anguish, emotional distress, and death threats they said followed the image’s spread. Court filings in related matters also noted that Mark McCloskey had previously pointed a gun at a neighbor during a property-boundary dispute.23Chicago Tribune. McCloskeys Sue Photographer Over Iconic Image