‘Checking Out My New AR!’: McCloskeys Buy New Rifle After Authorities Confiscate Guns Involved In Standoff With Rioters

 

Mark and Patricia McCloskey purchased at least one new gun over the weekend after turning their firearms over to law enforcement.

Mark McCloskey posted a photo Saturday on Twitter depicting himself and his wife purchasing an AR-15 along with the caption: “Checking out my new AR!” The McCloskeys were forced to turn over at least two firearms to the police last week after they pleaded guilty to charges relating to their standoff with Black Lives Matter rioters last year.

Mark McCloskey pleaded guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor charge of fourth-degree assault. The charge is far less serious than the original felony charges filed against McCloskey of unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence.Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense of second-degree harassment after being originally charged with felony offenses of unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence. The Daily Wire reported:

Mark McCloskey has been ordered to pay $750 in fines, and Patricia McCloskey has been ordered to pay $2,000 in fines and $10 to the St. Louis crime victims fund. The pair were also ordered to turn over the two weapons they were pictured holding in a confrontation that went viral last year. The couple’s lawyer asked that the guns either be destroyed or rendered ineffective and sold to a collector as a historical artifact.

The judge denied that request.

Last year in June, the McCloskeys confronted a group of Black Lives Matter rioters that had entered their private, gated community in St. Louis while marching to then-Mayor Lyda Krewson’s house. Krewson’s house was located down the street in the same private community.

The McCloskeys brandished firearms at the riots, claiming that the rioters had threatened them with physical violence after breaking into and damaging the gate into their private neighborhood.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner pursued the couple with felony charges over the incident, which was caught on video and went viral. Gardner later used the felony charges in a fundraising email, sparking a scandal in the case and earning Gardner a reprimand from a judge.

“Ms. Gardner has every right to rebut criticism, but it appears unnecessary to stigmatize defendant – or even mention him – in campaign solicitations, especially when she purports to be responding to others,” the judge wrote. “In fact, the case law and Rules of Professional Conduct prohibit it.”

Mark McCloskey announced in May that he was running to be the next U.S. senator from Missouri, according to CNN. McCloskey used the fame he garnered over his confrontation with the Black Lives Matter rioters and ensuing legal battle with Gardner to launch his campaign.

“I’ve always been a Republican, but I have never been a politician,” McCloskey said, making his announcement on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” “But you know, God came knocking on my door last summer disguised as an angry mob, and it really did wake me up.”