JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri Governor Mike Parson has pardoned a pair of St. Louis attorneys who drew international fame and infamy for waving guns at protesters outside their Central West End home last year.
The pardons were issued on Friday, July 30, but announced Tuesday.
Parson issued 12 pardons and commuted two sentences.
Mark and Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanors for the June 2020 incident. Mark pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault. His wife pleaded guilty to harassment. They were sentenced to pay the maximum fines: $750 for him, $2,000 for her. The weapons they brandished were destroyed as a condition of their pleas.
A grand jury indicted the couple last year on felony charges of unlawful use of a weapon and evidence tampering. In April 2021, the Missouri Supreme Court rejected St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s request to prosecute the couple. The McCloskeys have said Gardner used the case for her own political gain.
Demonstrators were marching to the home of then-Mayor Lyda Krewson on June 28, amid nationwide protests after police killed George Floyd in Minneapolis. The protesters ventured onto a private street that includes the McCloskey mansion.