Sunday evening, a St. Louis couple, Mark and Patricia McCloskey, owners and attorneys at McCloskey Law Center, pointed an AR-15 and a handgun at protesters breaking in and marching through their closed community’s private property. About 500 people walked into a gated area with the signs “private street” and “no trespassing” and headed toward the mayor’s home to demand her resignation after she read the names and addresses of several residents who supported defunding the police department during an online briefing.
It’s disturbing to watch how the Left turns on those who actually relate with the cause.
A heated discussion has erupted on Twitter around whether or not it was legal for the McCloskeys to brandish their semi-automatic rifle and pistol at a group of allegedly peaceful unarmed protesters. “A BLM sign in their front yard would have kept them safer than the guns,” wrote a Black Lives Matter supporter condemning the property owners’ behavior. Well, maybe yes, and maybe no.
Some of the protesters are neither peaceful nor respectful of private property rights. Yesterday, Black Lives Matter activists started to harass, berate, and assault Catholics who were peacefully praying for peace, unity, and the protection of the Saint Louis statue, which the protesters wanted to tear down. They also vandalized the front of Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby’s home Friday night.
Unwilling to see the reasons why the McCloskeys could have felt threatened and thus forced to protect their neighborhood, the Left has swiftly turned to its favorite tactic: find where the victims work and get them fired, or at least ruin their reputation. On social media, people have called for the couple to be arrested and disbarred. The angry internet mob immediately went on Google Maps and changed the description of McCloskey Law Center from attorney to public bathroom. Pictures of Mrs. McCloskey holding a gun with the hashtag KarensGoneWild are now trending on Twitter.
It’s disturbing to watch how the Left turns on those who actually relate with the cause; Mr. McCloskey is the attorney for a man suing the St. Louis Police in a brutality case. “I’m glad that the law enforcement agencies are subject to the same standard as everybody else,” said Mark McCloskey to the Associated Press.
It is not clear how this situation will be interpreted by Missouri law. The initial St. Louis Police report, however, identifies the McCloskeys as the victims in the incident. “Police said the couple claimed protesters were ‘yelling obscenities and threats of harm to both victims’ and that they brought out their guns when they ‘observed multiple subjects who were armed.’ ” Police did not mention in the report if officers verified whether or not any protesters were armed.
