Former President Donald Trump praised Gov. Mike Parson’s “courage” to pardon the McCloskeys last month.
“Congratulations to Governor Mike Parson of Missouri for having the courage to give Mr. and Mrs. Mark McCloskey a full pardon. They were defending their property and if they had not done what they did, their property would have been completely destroyed and they would have been badly beaten, or dead — great going Mike!” Trump said in a statement.
The McCloskeys pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in June related to the incident last year when the couple pointed firearms at protestors who marched past their St. Louis home. The couple also had to turn over their firearms to the state.
Mark McCloskey is a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate who has recounted the events of that day in stump speeches, promising to defend Missouri and the country from the “mob.”
“We couldn’t be more thrilled that the president has congratulated Mike Parson. Both President Trump and Gov. Parson, from the very beginning, demonstrated their wholehearted support of us when faced with the onslaught of the mob last June,” Mark McCloskey said in a phone call with The Missouri Times Wednesday afternoon. “Their sincere support for us and the rule of law is a constant reminder of what this country has lost as a result of the last election.”
Mark McCloskey pleaded guilty to a class C misdemeanor of assault in the fourth degree and agreed to a $750 fine. Patrica McCloskey pleaded guilty to a Class A misdemeanor of harassment in the second degree and agreed to a $2,000 fine.
Parson pardoned the couple on July 30 along with 10 others, but their names weren’t made public until early August. After the pardons, McCloskey vowed to strengthen Missouri’s Castle Doctrine laws.
Trump, a Republican, endorsed Parson in his 2020 gubernatorial bid. He has not yet backed any of the five GOP candidates for U.S. Senate although they are all touting their connections to the former president as they campaign.
Aside from McCloskey, Congressman Billy Long, Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, Attorney General Eric Schmitt, and former Gov. Eric Greitens are vying for the spot.
Kaitlyn Schallhorn was the editor in chief of The Missouri Times from 2020-2022. She joined the newspaper in early 2019 after working as a reporter for Fox News in New York City.
Throughout her career, Kaitlyn has covered political campaigns across the U.S., including the 2016 presidential election, and humanitarian aid efforts in Africa and the Middle East.
She is a native of Missouri who studied journalism at Winthrop University in South Carolina. She is also an alumna of the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C.
Contact Kaitlyn at kaitlyn@themissouritimes.com.
