After a five-year legal battle involving multiple lawsuits and appeals, a St. Louis couple who brandished firearms in an attempt to protect their property after Black Lives Matter protesters swarmed outside their property successfully reclaimed their AR-15 rifle.
The St. Louis couple, Mark and Patricia McCloskey, during the thick of the George Floyd riots in 2020, decided they needed to engage in intimidation tactics to defend their home after a mob of protesters had broken through a gate and marched onto a private street.
The McCloskeys claimed that the protesters had threatened their family while chanting slogans for BLM. Guess who took part in that march – former Missouri Rep. Cori Bush (D).
St. Louis Circuit Attorney at the time, Kim Gardner, also a Democrat, responded to the incident by claiming the McCloskeys had met protesters with “guns and violent assault.”
They hadn’t, not by any stretch of the imagination.
The couple eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and agreed to forfeit their weapons, though they were ultimately pardoned by former Missouri Governor Mike Parson (R).
Mr. McCloskey celebrated finally getting his gun back with a message on X Friday.
“It only took 3 lawsuits, 2 trips to the Court of Appeals, and 1,847 days, but I got my AR15 back!” he wrote, adding images of them reuniting as well as some from the famed incident that kicked off the Second Amendment battle.
It only took 3 lawsuits, 2 trips to the Court of Appeals and 1,847 days, but I got my AR15 back! We defended our home, were persecuted by the left, smeared by the press, and threatened with death, but we never backed down
What’s missing-Patty and the Bryco (soon) pic.twitter.com/NOEyzyXZWM— Mark McCloskey (@mccloskeyusa) August 1, 2025
RELIVE THE INCIDENT: MO Gov. Mike Parson Pardons Mark and Patricia McCloskey of Gun Charges
McCloskeys Plead Guilty to Defending Their Home Against Angry Mob
According to Fox News Digital, McCloskey also expects the pistol used by Patricia during the viral confrontation to be returned. He also told the outlet that the fight to get their firearms back was expensive but well worth it.
“That gun may have only been worth $1,500 or something, and it cost me a lot of time and a lot of effort to get it back, but you have to do that,” he said. “You have to let them know that you will never back down, you’ll never give up.”
“Each and every one of us owns a personal responsibility for our freedom and our democratic republic.”
Well spoken. McCloskey also posted a video of himself retrieving the AR-15.
Picking up the AR at the police property room@ pic.twitter.com/Jcp16tYhpA
— Mark McCloskey (@mccloskeyusa) August 1, 2025
Within days of pleading guilty to the misdemeanor charges and having to forfeit their firearms, the McCloskeys quickly showed off a replacement AR-15 they legally purchased.
Mark posted a picture of himself with the firearm alongside the gun store owner, and another paired up with his wife.
“Checking out my new AR!” an excited McCloskey posted to X.
Checking out my new AR! #2A #MOSen pic.twitter.com/Qa5UKupXSX
— Mark McCloskey (@mccloskeyusa) June 19, 2021
It’s clear the Democrat prosecutor had engaged in an overzealous prosecution of the McCloskeys, seeking to thrash their Second Amendment rights, making a mockery of Missouri’s stand-your-ground and castle doctrine laws, and seeking to gain political points with the racially motivated protesters.
Gardner resigned in disgrace in May 2023 amid mounting pressure from Missouri’s Attorney General, legislative efforts to strip her authority, allegations of mismanagement, and a high-profile case involving a repeat offender who caused a severe accident to a teenage girl.
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