The charges filed against a St. Louis couple who went viral last month after brandishing weapons against a crowd of protesters amounts to “nothing more than [a] impeachment, “Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said Tuesday.
In an interview on “America’s Newsroom,” Schmitt told host Bill Hemmer that the Second Amendment is in the state Constitution and that Missouri has “one of the strongest Castle Doctrines in the country.”
HAWLEY CALLS THE ST. LOUIS PROSECUTOR OF CHARGES AGAINST THE ARMED COUPLE: ABUSE OF POWER ‘TEXTBOOK’
“And what it says is that you have the right to defend yourself, the lives of your family members, your home and your property. That extends to your property. So this is private property,” he said. .
Schmitt noted that at a time when residents are calling to remove the police and “violence [is] spinning out of control “in places like St. Louis”, someone [has] has to do something about “prosecutors like Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner who are” targeting law-abiding citizens for exercising their fundamental right of self-defense. “
A couple pulls firearms at protesters as they enter their neighborhood during a protest against St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, June 28, 2020, in this capture of image obtained from a video of social networks. Daniel Shular / via REUTERS
“And I felt it was enough. Therefore, I step in to enter the case here and dismiss the case,” he said. “These people were, you know, protecting their properties, and this has broader implications as well, Bill. If you have a high-profile prosecution like this, it could have a chilling effect on other citizens exercising, again, their fundamental rights of dense self-control. And so we decided to take a position. “
Gardner argued Monday that Mark and Patricia McCloskey, both personal injury attorneys in their 60s, exhibited “illegal” behavior by waving their weapons “in a threatening manner.”
However, within hours of Gardner’s decision, Schmitt filed a brief to dismiss the charges, alleging that the couple’s Second Amendment rights were being violated.
Later that day, Missouri Governor Mike Parsons told “Hannity” that he “would certainly” forgive the McCloskeys that “they are being frankly attacked by a political process.”
“She has a history of making political decisions when it comes to the law. And, my job is to uphold the rule of law,” said Schmitt.
“The fact is that the Castle Doctrine, which defends its property, is not even an affirmative defense that it raised. It means that, in these circumstances and the charges that were presented, the illegal use of a weapon is not even a crime” he added.
According to Schmitt, Gardner’s charges, which he says are unfounded, have “wide implications.”
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“If the people of Missouri feel that they cannot exercise their fundamental right of self-defense, that is a serious problem.” [This] That is why as attorney general, the state’s chief law enforcement officer, I decided to intervene here, “he said.
“This will therefore take place over a period of weeks, I am sure. But we are right in the law and we are looking forward to the day the charges are dismissed,” the attorney general concluded.
Louis Casiano, Bradford Betz, Charles Creitz, and The Fox News Associated Press contributed to this report.
