St. Louis couple point firearms at protesters outside home marching to demand mayor’s resignation

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A couple brandished an AR-15 and a handgun at protesters marching past their mansion in an upscale St. Louis neighborhood.

Husband and wife, Mark and Patricia McCloskey, could be seen aiming the guns at demonstrators who walked by their palatial property in the wealthy Forest Park area at around 6pm on Sunday. 

At one point, the pair seemed to be unknowingly pointing their weapons at one another other while trying to keep protesters away from their home – dubbed the Niemann Mansion. 

The protesters were en route to Mayor Lyda Krewson’s home to demand her resignation after she released the names and addresses of residents who had suggested defunding the police department. 

They had broken their way into the gated community where the McCloskeys live.  

The pair are both personal injury lawyers and run McCloskey Law Center from inside their extravagant home.

On Monday morning, President Donald Trump retweeted footage of the couple without comment. 

Demonstrators chanted ‘Let’s Go’ as the couple stood their ground at their front door, patrolling back and forth. 

One video posted to Twitter of the demonstration shows the woman holding her gun at a protester who is wearing a t-shirt that reads, ‘Hands up, don’t shoot’. 

The individual appeared to be trying to get people to move away from the house at the time.   

Patricia McCloskey, 61, is seen moving closer to the protesters speaking to them as some stand and argue back. 

Other demonstrators are heard shouting at everyone to ‘Go’ as the woman continues waving her handgun at them from her front lawn and Mark McCloskey watched from the front door with his rifle. 

St. Louis police confirmed they were called to Portland Place at around 7.20pm on Sunday night for an incident involving trespassing and assault 4th intimidation after the McCloskeys issued a ‘call for help’. 

‘The victims stated they were on their property when they heard a loud commotion coming from the street. When the victims went to investigate the commotion, they observed a large group of subjects forcefully break an iron gate marked with “No Trespassing” and “Private Street” signs,’ police said. 

‘Once through the gate, the victims advised the group that they were on a private street and trespassing and told them to leave. The group began yelling obscenities and threats of harm to both victims. 

‘When the victims observed multiple subjects who were armed, they then armed themselves and contacted police. The investigation is ongoing.’  

Mr McCloskey, 63, has previously represented a victim of police brutality. The man – who was identified by the initials I.F. – was kicked and struck by police officer David Maas in shocking dashcam footage that appeared to show him surrendering. 

The initials match a 2019 civil lawsuit made by Isaiah Forman in which the same allegations are put forward.  

Police at the time said Forman, then 21, was driving a car that had been taken by another man at gunpoint.  

The lawsuit against Maas claimed that Forman had ‘surrendered peaceably’. 

According to the indictment, Maas kicked and struck Forman in April 2019 while the man was compliant and not posing a physical threat to anyone, causing ‘bodily injury’ and depriving him of his right to be ‘free from unreasonable force’. 

A lawyer for Maas argued that Forman had ‘aggressively resisted arrest’ and ‘struck a police vehicle, narrowly missing a police officer in the process’. 

Maas was charged with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law in March 2020.

Mr McCloskey said of the case: ‘I’m glad that the law enforcement agencies are subject to the same standard as everybody else’.

Forman pleaded guilty to crashing his car into a police vehicle during the chase and is serving a seven year sentence for second-degree assault on a special victim. 

Saint Louis University Lawyer John Amman told KSDK that the actions of the couple Sunday could possibly be classified as assault by putting protesters in fear of their safety. 

Amman added that the homeowners would have had a right to act if they felt threatened but if the protesters were walking past their home without threatening the couple specifically, they wouldn’t have the right to threaten lethal force. 

Lawyer Don Calloway called on the Missouri Bar to revoke their licences. 

‘A fellow lawyer from Missouri, a guy I know named Mark McCloskey committed an assault tonight in STL by pointing his AR 15 at peaceful protesters,’ he wrote. 

‘He should be arrested and charged with assault immediately. The MO Bar should revoke their licenses.’ 

The Missouri Bar told DailyMail.com that they were aware of the video but it was a matter for Missouri’s Chief Disciplinary Counsel. 

DailyMail.com reached out to the Missouri Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel for comment but a representative was not available. 

In Missouri, there is no state licensing requirements for the possession of a rifle, shotgun or handgun. 

According to the NRA, state law does not prohibit the open carrying of firearms, but does prohibit exhibiting ‘any weapon readily capable of lethal use’ in an angry or threatening manner in the presence of one or more persons. 

The couple confronted the group of about 300 protesters after they broke down a gate in the neighborhood, according to NBC News.  

Their home is located in Portland Place, a historic district in St. Louis listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. 

The gated community has just under 100 homes, all built between 1890 and 1960. 

‘These two premier private streets celebrated their 100th anniversary with 77 of the original 89 houses proudly standing as tributes to the owners and the inspired architects and skilled artisans who created them,’ a plaque awarded in 1974 reads at the entrance to the district. 

An online petition started over the weekend calling for Mayor Krewson to resign has generated more than 40,000 signatures. 

On Friday night, Mayor Lyda Krewson issued a statement apologizing for her actions. The full statement read: ‘In an effort to be transparent and accessible to the public during the Covid-19 pandemic, for more than three months now I have been doing tri-weekly community updates on Facebook. 

‘Tonight, I would like to apologize for identifying individuals who presented letters to me at City Hall as I was answering a routine question during one of my updates earlier today. 

‘While this is public information, I did not intend to cause distress or harm to anyone. The post has been removed.’

The ACLU of Missouri issued the following statement Friday evening regarding Mayor Krewson’s reading of names and addresses:

‘Today adds to the list of things we never thought we would have to say. To be clear, it is shocking and misguided for Mayor Lyda Krewson of St. Louis, to broadcast the addresses of those who dare to express a different viewpoint on an issue of public concern. 

‘It serves no apparent purpose beyond intimidation. We are stronger when we foster open dialogue. The chilling of debate should bother everyone, no matter whether they agree or disagree with the mayor on this particular issue.’

The McCloskeys, who have one grown-up daughter, bought their palatial home in 1988 when Mark said it ‘had quarter-inch-thick carbon on it in some places’.

They renovated it to its original standards in a massive 30-year project which they spoke about at great lengths in a 2018 interview.

The enormous estate features a sweeping entry hall and an enormous dining room. One of its most-prized rooms is the 70-foot long ballroom modelled off a hall in the Palazzo Davanzati in Florence.

The home – dubbed a ‘Renaissance palazzo’ previously belonged to Edward and Anna Busch at the start of the 20th century. 

Mrs McCloskey previously said the original owners’ goal was ‘to build one of the most lavish and grand houses in the Midwest’.

The house has five floors and is modelled off European Renaissance palaces. The original owners brought in a ‘village of Italian stonemasons that lived in a tent city in the side yard while they finished the stonework’ in the luxurious home, Mr McCloskey said.

Mrs McCloskey added: ‘There’s a Medici house in Florence where you come in the front door and it’s exactly like this. But we haven’t found it yet.’

The couple carry out their person injury law practice from the historic home. 

‘The goal of our practice is to provide those sustaining such devastating injuries, or the survivors of those killed as a result of such devastating injuries, with meaningful compensation,’ their website says. 

Both attended Southern Methodist University School of Law. 

Patricia McCloskey’s bio lists her as having held roles as a member of the Missouri Bar Association ethical review panel and a St. Louis city committee woman. 

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