St. Louis couple who pointed guns at protesters to speak at Republican convention

Patricia and Mark McCloskey, the St. Louis homeowners who pointed guns at protesters earlier this summer, are scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention next week, an aide familiar told on Monday.

News of the couple’s expected appearance, first reported by the Washington Post, comes as Republicans are gearing up for an unorthodox convention, as part of efforts to energize voters during a pandemic and going into the last three months of the campaign. Democrats kicked off their party’s national convention Monday in a night of programming headlined by former first lady Michelle Obama, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, among others.

A spokesman for Trump Victory and a Republican official confirmed later Monday that former Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann, Andrew Pollack, the father of Parkland shooting victim Meadow Pollack, anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Pennsylvania congressional candidate Sean Parnell will also be among the speakers at the Republican convention. The lineup, which is still being formed, was first reported by Breitbart News.

The McCloskeys drew national attention in late June after they were seen in a viral video brandishing guns outside their mansion at protesters walking on a private street en route to demonstrate outside the St. Louis mayor’s residence. The Missouri couple was charged in July with unlawful use of a weapon, a class E felony.

The White House has defended the couple on multiple occasions, with White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany telling reporters at the time that President Donald Trump “said it is absolutely absurd, what is happening to the McCloskeys.”

In videos obtained, Mark McCloskey holds a long rifle and Patricia McCloskey holds a handgun as demonstrators, protesting Mayor Lyda Krewson’s decision to publish the names and addresses of people in favor of police reform, walked outside the home. Portland Place, the private street where the McCloskeys live, is near Krewson’s home.

Daniel Shular, a local reporter, took one of the videos and said he watched the entire roughly 10-minute long incident unfold. About 500 protesters were cutting through Portland Place, according to Shular, to bypass road closures nearby that blocked access to the mayor’s home.

“A door next to the gate at Portland Place was unlocked and protesters went through it to cut through the neighborhood to get to Krewson’s house,” he told.