The president’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani claimed that St. Louis attorneys Mark and Patricia McCloskey came “very very close” to being “murdered, having their house burned down, and being raped” on that day that they rushed out of their home and pointed guns at protesters—whom they said were trespassing in and threatening their gated community.
Giuliani interviewed the McCloskeys for an episode of his YouTube series that aired Thursday to discuss the circumstances leading up to the event that resulted in the couple being indicted on felony gun charges. The attorneys, now a cause célèbre on the right, spoke at last month’s Republican National Convention. The former New York City mayor spoke to the couple from inside their St. Louis mansion.
“They were confronted almost a month ago with the possibility of being murdered, having their house burned down, and being raped – a horrible situation,” Giuliani said when introducing the couple. “I think you saw some of it – with their holding people off – and thank god it didn’t happen, but it came very very close. And then the unjustifiable happened, they were put under investigation as if they committed a crime and it’s a sign of the sickness that abounds this land today.”
The McCloskeys then went on to make several claims, at least one of which contradicted a previous statement.
Mark McCloskey told Giuliani he and his wife were “certain” that the protesters were intent on killing them and burning down the house when he and his wife ran outside with guns. He also said they were particularly fearful because of the groups that were behind the demonstration, saying they “knew that Black Lives Matter was a Marxist organization,” later referring to the group as “rioters.”
But in the immediate aftermath of the incident, both of the McCloskeys expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement in a statement released through their then-attorney.
“The Black Lives Matters movement is here to stay, it is the right message, and it is about time,” the statement read. “The McCloskeys want to make sure no one thinks less of BLM, its message and the means it is employing to get its message out because of the actions of a few white individuals who tarnished a peaceful protest.”
Then there’s the issue of the gate to the gated community. McCloskey also claimed to have witnessed the protesters barge through and destroy the community gate, which he said he personally locked before their arrival.
While the gate was eventually damaged, video evidence conclusively shows protesters opening and walking through a clearly unbroken gate just prior to being approached by the McCloskeys. It is unclear when the gate was damaged or by whom.
“I had no expectation that we would survive that day. We would put up a battle and we would die in flames” Mark McCloskey said later in the interview.
After police investigated the incident, both Mark and Patricia were charged with unlawful use of a gun, a low-level felony.
“It is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner at those participating in nonviolent protest, and while we are fortunate this situation did not escalate into deadly force, this type of conduct is unacceptable in St. Louis,” said St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner.
The McCloskeys maintain that the prosecution is purely political and that they were lawfully exercising their Second Amendment rights.
[image via YouTube screengrab]