A white couple in the United States who drew their firearms to anti-racism protesters last year and became known nationwide have been fined. The lawyer Mark McCloskey has to pay 750 dollars (630 euros) because of the incident, his wife Patricia McCloskey, who also works as a lawyer, 2,000 dollars, a court spokesman in St. Louis, Missouri announced on Thursday. In addition, the two agreed to hand over the weapons they showed at the time. Missouri Governor Mike Parson has announced that if convicted, the couple will be pardoned.
Both got off relatively lightly because they pleaded guilty.
Marc McCloskey was convicted of minor physical assault and his wife was convicted of minor harassment.
Because of his pleadings of guilt, the wealthy couple avoided a lawsuit and possibly much tougher sentences.
Mark McCloskey ran across the lawn of his feudal estate in St. Louis in June of last year to the peaceful participants in a demonstration against police violence and racism and threatened them with his assault rifle.
His wife waved a handgun in front of the protesters.
There was no evidence that the protesters threatened the couple in any way.
Mark McCloskey defended his behavior at the time in a statement on Thursday.
"The prosecution dropped all charges against me, except that I scared other people for their health," said McCloskey.
“That's exactly what I did, that's what the guns were for.
At any time, should a mob threaten my safety, I will act in the same way to protect my family. "
However, the McCloskeys were portrayed as heroes by arch-conservative politicians.
Both took part as speakers at the Republican Congress in August 2020, at which then-President Donald Trump was officially nominated for a second term.
Trump was then defeated in the November election to today's President Joe Biden of the Democrats.
Mark McCloskey recently announced that he will run for the Senate next year. In the video announcing this application, he claimed without any evidence that the Black Lives Matter demonstrators posed a life-threatening threat to him and his family. "When the angry mob came to destroy my home and kill my family, I rose up against them," he said.