Records expunged for St. Louis couple who waved guns at protesters. They want their guns back
Armed homeowners Mark and Patricia McCloskey stand in front of their house, confronting protesters marching to St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson's house in the Central West End of St. Louis, June 28, 2020. A judge has expunged the misdemeanor convictions of the St. Louis couple who pointed guns at racial injustice protesters outside their mansion in 2020. Now, they say, they want their guns back. Credit: AP/Laurie Skrivan
ST. LOUIS — A judge has expunged the misdemeanor convictions of a St. Louis couple who waved guns at racial injustice protesters outside their mansion in 2020. Now they want their guns back.
Attorneys Mark and Patricia McCloskey filed a request in January to have the convictions wiped away. Judge Joseph P. Whyte wrote in an order Wednesday that the purpose of an expungement is to give people who have rehabilitated themselves a second chance, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. City prosecutors and police opposed the expungements.
Immediately after the judge's ruling, Mark McCloskey demanded that the city return the two guns seized as part of his 2021 guilty plea to misdemeanor assault. Republican Gov. Mike Parson pardoned the couple weeks after the plea.
“It’s time for the city to cough up my guns,” he told the Post-Dispatch.
If it doesn’t, he said, he’ll file a lawsuit.
The McCloskeys said they felt threatened by the protesters, who were passing their home in June 2020 on their way to demonstrate in front of the mayor’s house nearby. It was one of hundreds of demonstrations around the country after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The couple also said the group was trespassing on a private street.
Mark McCloskey emerged from his home with an AR-15-style rifle, and Patricia McCloskey waved a semi-automatic pistol.
Mark McCloskey, center, and his wife, Patricia, make their way to the Kenosha County Courthouse during Kyle Rittenhouse's trial in Kenosha, Wis., Nov. 16, 2021. A judge has expunged the misdemeanor convictions of the St. Louis couple who pointed guns at racial injustice protesters outside their mansion in 2020. Now, they say, they want their guns back. Credit: AP/Sean Krajacic
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