A grand jury indicted Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who went viral after confronting a mob of protesters trespassing on their property, on charges of exhibiting guns and tampering with evidence, according to KMOV-4.
The grand jury accused the couple of tampering with Patricia McCloskey’s gun, which was inoperable at the time it was handed over to investigators.
An investigation found that St. Louis City Attorney Kim Gardner was the one who tampered with the evidence, instructing the city’s crime lab to reassemble the gun into working order so that she could score a conviction against the McCloskeys. But this was not mentioned in the jury’s indictment.
The McCloskey’s attorney, Joel Schwartz, said that once all the evidence becomes available, Mark and Patricia McCloskey will be exonerated.
“Once all the facts are out, it will be clear the McCloskeys committed no crime whatsoever,” Schwartz said.
“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,” he said.
Mark McCloskey blasted the indictment and said that it is evident the city is deliberately targeting him and his wife.
He cited recent charges brought against nine of the protesters who trespassed on his property. It was clear these protesters had broken the law, but local officials refused to prosecute them.
“Every single human being who as in front of my house was a criminal trespasser,” McCloskey said.
“They broke down our gate, they trespassed on our property. Not a single one of those people are now charged with anything,” he continued. “We’re charged with felonies that could cost us four years of our lives and our law licenses.”
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and other prominent Republicans at the state and federal level have pledged to pardon the McCloskeys if they are convicted.
