“Does anyone remember why they pleaded guilty?”
They pointed guns at people who were not threatening them.
To end the lawfare being waged against them.
Prolly listened to bis lawyer.
They pleaded down to a lesser crime, rather that risk it all by getting the “full ride” (a greater crime) from a (liberal) jury.
Does anyone remember why they pleaded guilty?
The StL district attorney charged them with felonies. This would be the same D.A. who hounded governor Greitens out of office and who declined to charge any of the people (racial injustice protestors) who broke into their private, gated neighborhood, or tore down statues in St. Louis.
Governor Parsons had promised them a pardon, but as I understand it, under the Missouri Constitution, he can only issue a pardon after a case has been decided. When they were offered a plea deal, plead guilty to a misdemeanor and end the case now—and get the pardon they took the deal. I imagine they saved much more money in legal fees than the two guns were worth.
This is not to say that they should get the guns back. Despite Missouri’s overall conservatism, St. Louis is not a place where whites who resist ‘racial injustice protestors’ are likely to get a fair shake from the powers-that-be.