AR-15 Returned to McCloskey After Nearly Five-Year Legal Battle

Key Details

• June 28, 2020: Mark and Patricia McCloskey emerged from their home on a private street in St. Louis carrying firearms as a Black Lives Matter demonstration passed through. Images of the encounter spread nationwide.
• Legal Outcome: The couple was charged by then-St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner with unlawful use of a weapon. They pleaded guilty to misdemeanors in 2021 and were pardoned by then-Missouri Governor Mike Parson. A Missouri appeals court later affirmed expungement of their convictions.
• 2025: Mark McCloskey announced that his AR-15 rifle was returned after 1,847 days of litigation.

Statements

"The experience reinforced the need for self-reliance and perseverance."

Mark McCloskey said the legal battle gave him and his wife a platform to speak about constitutional rights.

"This reflects what progressive prosecutors do — they target law-abiding citizens."

Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt, who as attorney general intervened in the case, framed the incident as an example of overreach by progressive prosecutors.

Attorney Al Watkins, who represented the McCloskeys early on, offered a different perspective. He said the precipitating event was a decision by local authorities to instruct police to be "hands off" with protesters, not the protest itself.

Background

The confrontation occurred during racial justice protests following the death of George Floyd. The McCloskeys lived on a private, gated street where then-Mayor Lyda Krewson also resided.

Mark McCloskey later became a conservative political figure, speaking at the 2020 Republican National Convention and running for U.S. Senate in Missouri in 2022. He has also represented some January 6 defendants in a legal capacity.