Senator Josh Hawley sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr calling for a civil rights investigation into the prosecutor investigating a St. Louis couple who defended their home against Black Lives Matter protesters.
The couple, Mark and Patricia McCloskey, brandished firearms after a mob of protesters had broken onto their private property, threatening their family while chanting slogans for Black Lives Matter.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner responded by claiming the McCloskeys committed a “violent assault,” issued a warrant, and had one of the weapons seized.
“If Kimberly Gardner wants to press charges against two attorneys who are protecting their home and their family and themselves on their own property,” an attorney for the couple responded, “I will tell you that it will be nothing short of the proverbial cluster f***.”
If the Attorney General of the United States steps in at the request of Hawley (R-MO), that prediction may come to fruition.
This morning I have asked the Department of Justice to open a civil rights investigation into the St Louis Circuit Attorneys Office. Targeting law abiding citizens who exercise constitutionally protected rights for investigation & prosecution is an abuse of power https://t.co/lg9GbisWgd
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 16, 2020
RELATED: Protesters Break Into Private Neighborhood… Then Armed Residents Fought Back
Second Amendment
The McCloskey case is quickly shaping up to be a major stand for Second Amendment rights, something Hawley points out in his letter to Barr.
“This is an unacceptable abuse of power and threat to the Second Amendment, and I urge you to consider a federal civil rights investigation into the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office to determine whether this investigation and impending prosecution violates this family’s constitutional rights,” Hawley implored.
“There is no question under Missouri law that the McCloskeys had the right to own and use their firearms to protect themselves from threatened violence, and that any criminal prosecution for these actions is legally unsound,” the letter states.
Indeed, Missouri has the ‘Castle Doctrine‘ law, which enables people to use deadly force without fleeing if an intruder attempts to enter their property.
The BLM mob broke a gate to get into the private property.
Malicious Prosecution
Hawley proceeded to explain to Barr that there is one clear reason Gardner is going after the McCloskeys.
“The only possible motivation for the investigation, then, is a politically motivated attempt to punish this family for exercising their Second Amendment rights,” he explained.
That should frighten every American who has ever exercised their Second Amendment right in order to defend themselves or their family.
