A Missouri couple who were reportedly filmed in June pulling guns on protestors made their first appearance in court Monday.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Mark and Patricia McCloskey’s hearing was postponed until October 6. A St. Louis grand jury will review the couple’s case and will decide whether there’s enough evidence for an indictment.
In late July, Mark and Patricia McCloskey, 63 and 61, were charged with unlawful use of a weapon for a June 28 incident that unfolded outside their Central West End mansion.
Authorities claimed Mark McCloskey aimed an AR-15 rifle at Black Lives Matter protesters while Patricia McCloskey wielded a semiautomatic handgun.
Mark McCloskey reportedly said he saw a mob of protestors break through a gate and enter their neighborhood. Protestors denied being on the couple’s property and claimed they entered the community through an unlocked gate.
A video apparently shows the first group of demonstrators entering through an undamaged gate; the gate was damaged some point thereafter, according to the Post-Dispatch.
Protestors reportedly cut through the gated community while en route to St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson’s home. Mark McCloskey said the safeties were engaged on their weapons at the time. Further, the couple’s lawyer claimed the pistol Patricia McCloskey was wielding was inoperable.
According to KPLR, the McCloskeys’ attorney said they will plead not guilty.
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[Featured image: Screenshot via Twitter/Daniel Schular]
