Posted on 06/28/2026 11:22:41 AM PDT by Libloather
One of the defining images of 2020 featured two homeowners, two firearms and a confrontation that ignited a national firestorm.
Six years later, the legal, political and cultural fallout from that moment continues to reverberate through debates over self-defense, private property rights, public protest and prosecutorial power.
On June 28, 2020, as racial justice protests swept cities across America following the death of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter demonstrators made their way through Portland Place, a private, gated street in St. Louis, toward the home of then-Mayor Lyda Krewson.
As the crowd passed through the neighborhood, the McCloskeys emerged from their home carrying firearms — Mark with an AR-15-style rifle and Patricia with a handgun.
Within hours, images of the encounter had spread nationwide, turning a confrontation on a private St. Louis street into a flashpoint in America’s debate over self-defense, property rights and public protest.
Supporters viewed the couple as homeowners defending their property during a period of unrest that had swept cities across the country.
Critics argued they unnecessarily escalated the situation by brandishing firearms at demonstrators.
Six years later, the legal and political aftershocks of that day are still being felt.
Looking back today, Mark McCloskey said the experience reinforced one lesson above all else.
“You can’t rely on others,” McCloskey told Fox News Digital. “You have to be prepared. You have to know how to defend yourself.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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They were unfairly convicted.
Think I read recently that their weapons were returned.
I remember the incident and the unfair punishment directed at the innocent couple. BLM will never get support from me; I hope the BLM perps stop the nonsense and leave non-blacks alone. Too much black on others crime going on, convict the criminal blacks.
Meanwhile the BLM scammers who made a fortune through the BLM scam have yet to be brought to justice despite causing billions in damages from the riots they incited.
“As rioters razed St. Louis, activist prosecutors like Kim Gardner chose to go after law-abiding citizens like the McCloskeys—not the looters and criminals destroying our cities,” Schmitt told Fox News Digital.
A Soros funded activist prosecutor turned a case that was originally to be dropped into an active prosecution for political reasons - to intimidate any resistance to The Cause. Gardner is not longer in office and probably belongs in jail for prosecutorial abuse.
And here's the rub: despite exoneration the system still deliberately obstructed justice.
“It teaches the benefit of perseverance,” he [McCloskey] said. “It took me 1,847 days, three lawsuits and two trips to the Court of Appeals to get my rifle back and then another 60 days or so to get that pistol back.”
Fortunately he and his wife are attorneys or the legal cost of recovering their rightful property would have exceeded the cost of the property itself by at least an order of magnitude. The process is definitely the punishment.
He was a Trump hating democrat who then ran for office as a republican. That’s like a conservative who’s a liberal that’s been mugged.
She’s the one who held the pistol like it was a wine glass.
You’d think the protesters rights would have ended once they came through the gate uninvited.
What a crock. They weren't "passing through" they'd broken through a gate, thus demonstrating both mal-intent and zero inhibitions to damaging property.
My learning from that event is that you stay inside your house with all your firearms loaded and handy.
Anyone who comes through the locked door is an imminent threat to my life and I will kill them. And anyone who follows. By the dozens as necessary.
I recall that at the time, she knew the pistol was not loaded, so brandishing it would not be fatal. That's mistake #1. Her #2 mistake was brandishing an unloaded pistol, which could be fatal to her.
IIRC: THE ATTACKERS BROKE THRU A GATE INTO A PRIVATELY GATED COMMUNITY
“As the crowd passed through the neighborhood, the McCloskeys emerged from their home “
I wouldn’t re beyond that.
This makes it sound like a group was just sauntering down the street on their way to a Sunday School Picnic, carrying little wood baskets of potato salad in Tupperware. The ARMED VIOLENT MOB was specifically targeting the McCloskey home. The McCloskeys defended it.
What up with Fox and the shoddy reporting?
“My learning from that event is that you stay inside your house with all your firearms loaded and handy.”
I think about this event often. I’ve gone through the scenario as if it were me defending my home and family. I would have stayed inside, opened a window slightly and observed, listened. I definitely wouldn’t have been outside to confront a mob with a gun in my hand - no way. I would have stayed inside, upper floors, window open. If they forced entry, I would likely shoot. If the mob firebombed the house, I would have tried to escape. Scariest part is not the mob, they would have been dispersed after 10-15 rounds from an AR. The nightmarish part is that the government went after them so hard. McCloskeys made some tactical mistakes, but the prosecutor was pure evil. The problem was the city and state they live in.
Checked Missouri politics lately? Think of what would have happened to the McCloskey's in California, New York, or Massachusetts!
“Think of what would have happened to the McCloskey’s in California, New York, or Massachusetts!”
I’m thinking about it happening in My City, Virginia. Not cool.
Neither weapon was operable, by the way.
They were probably within a red-nether hair of needing to use them, too. A mob is a very dangerous thing. As always, stay away from crowds

Looks like Mark traded in his AR for an FN P90.
He probably counted how many hooligans he'd had at his front door and decided he needed something with a 50-round magazine.
Still haven't figured out how the CapsLock works, huh?
These people are heroes!
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