Locked and loaded
Lawyer couple go for their guns as Black Lives protest marches by their mansion
guns in their hands, a husband and wife patrol the front of their lavish mansion while Black Lives Matter protesters walk past.
Mark McCloskey clutched an assault rifle while his wife Patricia waved a silver pistol in the wealthy Forest Park neighbourhood of st Louis, Missouri.
The extraordinary scene is a vivid demonstration of the tensions gripping Donald Trump’s America.
The couple, who are personal injury lawyers, shouted ‘keep movkey ing!’ and Mrs McCloskey walked across her lawn while pointing the pistol at a protester. In a video of the incident, Mrs McCloskey says: ‘Private property! get out!’
The McCloskeys have been restoring the mansion, which has a 45ft high rotunda dome, for decades. It was originally built in 1909 and was intended as one of the most lavish and grand houses in the Midwest.
Footage of the confrontation emerged as demonstrations calling for police reform, which began with the death of george Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, entered their fifth week. In the video, Mr McClosis seen striding out of his home brandishing the assault rifle with an extended magazine.
His wife joined him with the silver gun in her hand. neither of them had put on shoes. The footage was shot by photographer Theo Welling showing the McCloskeys shouting at protesters who are chanting ‘Let’s go!’ and beating a drum.
One demonstrator tried to reason with them but they continued to shout back.
The McCloskeys run their company, the McCloskey Law Centre from their home. Ironically, they are currently representing a victim of alleged police brutality.
The protesters were on their way to Mayor Lyda Krewson’s home to demand her resignation. she had released the names and addresses of residents who suggested defunding the police department – a key demand of some us radicals.
Across America, statues of Confederate generals have been torn down by Black Lives Matter protesters, and now John Wayne has become a target too. Democrats in California want to rename John Wayne Airport in Orange County.
Wayne, who died in 1979, once said: ‘I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility.’
‘Tried to reason with them’