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St. Louis Gun-Toting Trump-Supporting Couple to Speak at GOP Convention Because of Course They Are

Patricia and Mark McCloskey, the Missouri homeowners who brandished [1] firearms as protesters prepared to march to the home of St. Louis mayor Lyda Krewson in June will be featured speakers at the Republican National Convention next week, an official familiar with the situation told CNN. [2]

With just three months until Election Day, Republicans are scrambling to find ways to energize voters as the pandemic continues.

The convention is going to be about as classy as you might expect if your idea of classy is drinking boxed wine out of plastic cups. The scheduled speakers also include Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann, the Kentucky teenager whose claim to fame is a confrontation [3] with Nathan Phillips, a Native American activist who sang a chant near the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Nick Pollack, whose daughter Meadow Pollack was killed in the Parkland shootings, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. The lineup is still in process, according to Breitbart News, [4] that leading source of right-wing propaganda.

The McCloskeys have subsequently been charged with unlawful use of a weapon after a video showed them standing outside their mansion and pointing guns at protesters who were walking down a private walkway to Krewson’s home.

The White House has spoken out, defending the couple on several occasions, with White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany telling the press that President Donald Trump “said it is absolutely absurd, what is happening to the McCloskeys.”

Why this is “absurd” is anyone’s guess. Guns can discharge accidentally. People can do things in the heat of a moment that they regret for the rest of their lives. It only takes one second. And all the protesters were trying to do is protest Krewson’s decision to publish the names and addresses of people who support police reform. That’s it.

Local reporter Daniel Shular caught the whole affair on video and noted the incident lasted about 10 minutes. The 500 or so protesters cut through Portland Place, bypassing road closures 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 Krewson’s house,” Shular told CNN.

That’s when the McCloskeys came out of the house holding their guns, he added. His video of the incident is short, at 31 seconds, but it shows Patricia McCloskey pointing a handgun in the direction of protesters. Other videos show the McCloskeys trading words with the protesters but it isn’t clear what was said.

Mark McCloskey has defended his actions, at one point telling [5] CNN’s Chris Cuomo that he was “in imminent fear that they would run me over, kill me.”

“I was a person scared for my life, protecting my wife, my home, my hearth, my livelihood. I was a victim of a mob that came through the gate,” he told Cuomo.

He also claimed he isn’t a racist.

“I didn’t care what color they were,” he said. “I didn’t care what their motivation was. I was frightened. I was assaulted.”

So here’s the question: If the mob was solely made up of white people, would the couple have drawn their guns? That’s the defining factor here. My guess is the McCloskeys will fit right in at the RNC.