ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis couple accused of waving guns at racial injustice protesters last summer are due back in court Friday, when a judge will consider whether to send the case back to a grand jury to decide if they should have been indicted in the first place.
A St. Louis grand jury indicted Mark and Patricia McCloskey in October on felony charges of unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with evidence. Their attorney, Joel Schwartz, filed a motion this month seeking to remand the case to the grand jury, citing “bias” in St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s office that he said tainted the grand jury process.
It wasn’t clear ahead of Friday’s hearing when Circuit Judge David Mason would issue a decision. Schwartz and Special Prosecutor Richard Callahan — who was appointed months after the October indictment — declined to speculate.
Demonstrators were marching to the home of then-Mayor Lyda Krewson on June 28, amid nationwide protests after police killed George Floyd in Minneapolis. The protesters ventured onto a private street that includes the McCloskey mansion. The couple, both of them attorneys in their early 60s, said they felt threatened after protesters broke down an iron gate and ignored a “No Trespassing” sign. Protest leaders denied damaging the gate and said the march was peaceful.