Indicted St. Louis attorneys Mark McCloskey, 63, and Patricia McCloskey, 61, widely known for pointing a rifle and pistol at Black Lives Matter protesters in their neighborhood back in June, left a signed postcard for a pancake house employee on Tuesday. The photo, similar to the one above, says “Patty & Mark McCloskey v. the Mob.” An unsigned image showed them with arms crossed in front of their mansion under an American flag. The caption? “Still standing.”
The attorney couple was indicted eight days ago by a grand jury for alleged evidence tampering. They had already been charged with unlawful use of a weapon stemming from the June incident in which they stood outside their mansion in Portland Place—a private, gated community—and pointed guns at protesters. They pleaded not guilty on Wednesday. The defendants have long said that their house would have been burned down and that they would have been killed had they not gone outside armed and confronted trespassing protesters on June 28.
According to KMOV, the McCloskeys left an autographed image of their armed selves and a tip for a server at Original Pancake House in Ladue. Andrea Spencer ate at a nearby table on Tuesday and she saw this happen, according to the local CBS affiliate.
Spencer said that she and the server shared an OMG moment, believing it was “strange” the McCloskeys had done this.
“We were having breakfast and I noticed all this commotion around the table when they had left. The server was like ‘Oh my God, look what they left me,” Spencer said, recalling what transpired. “I saw it and thought ‘Oh my God.’ It was just flabbergasting think that you’re capitalizing on these 15 minutes of shame that you have, and to publicize it on a postcard. I thought it was strange.”
KMOV later added an amusing update about the postcard: “A photographer whose images were used in the postcard told News 4 Wednesday the couple did not obtain permission to use the photo and may be in violation of copyright laws.”
Spencer said she came away thinking that leaving a signed postcard was something the McCloskeys had done before or were at least “very comfortable” doing. She also said that she got the sense the McCloskeys “didn’t want to be forgotten or they didn’t get recognized as much as they wanted to when they were there.”
The attorneys certainly have gotten a lot of recognization and widespread support from Republican elected officials and Second Amendment advocates in recent months. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt (R) promised to fight the “political prosecution” on behalf of the McCloskeys. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley (R) asked the Department of Justice to look into whether Gardner violated the McCloskeys’ civil rights by initiating a prosecution. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) said he would “without a doubt” pardon the McCloskeys.
More recently, Rudy Giuliani said the couple was very close to being “murdered” and “raped.” Notably, Giuliani had the couple on his podcast in early September to discuss “tampered evidence.” They said St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and her team were the ones doing the tampering. Giuliani called Gardner a “SOROS prosecutor.”
The couple also made a virtual appearance during the 2020 Republican National Convention.
Speaking of President Donald Trump, it was also reported on Wednesday that he has kept in semi-frequent contact with the McCloskeys. The McCloskeys’ lawyer Joel Schwartz told KMOV in a separate story that his clients have “spoken with the President” and that president “contacts them semi-frequently.”
While the McCloskeys maintained they were lawfully defending themselves and their home against angry trespassers, Kim Gardner charged the married couple for unlawful use of a weapon. Notably, St. Louis prosecutors declined to charge nine protesters who were initially issued trespassing tickets following the events of June 28.
According to KSDK, Portland Place trustees, who have quite a history with the McCloskeys, said they did not want to press charges against the protesters. Joel Schwartz said that the McCloskeys “absolutely would have liked to press charges.”
“Once all the facts are out, it will be clear the McCloskeys committed no crime whatsoever,” Schwartz added. “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.”
Mark McCloskey was outraged that he and his wife were charged while the protesters weren’t. He said that Gardner was protecting “criminals” but going after “honest citizens.”
“Every single human being that was in front of my house was a criminal trespasser,” he said. “They broke down our gate. They trespassed on our property. Not a single one of those people is now charged with anything. We’re charged with felonies that could cost us four years of our lives and our law licenses.”
“What you are witnessing here is just an opportunity for the government, the leftist, democrat government of the City of St. Louis to persecute us for doing no more than exercising our Second Amendment rights,” McCloskey continued.
[Image via KMOV screengrab]
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
Follow Law&Crime:
