Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the couple from St. Louis, Missouri, who pointed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters near their residence, were reported to have been indicted by a grand jury on firearm charges on Tuesday.
Watkins said that the accusations against the McCloskeys “effectively [demonstrate] the highest degree of ineptitude and inappropriate behavior" from Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner's office. A spokeswoman for Gardner declined to comment.
Watkins said on Tuesday that it wasn't clear what led to the additional tampering with evidence charge.
An unnamed St. Louis court clerk said the indictment has been filed but she was not authorized to produce the document, reported the outlet.
A St. Louis judge earlier on Tuesday postponed the McCloskeys' hearing until Oct. 14.
After a brief court hearing at the St. Louis Circuit Court Tuesday, Mark McCloskey expressed anger that he and his wife faced criminal charges while those who trespassed onto his property did not.
"Every single human being that was in front of my house was a criminal trespasser. They broke down our gate. They trespassed on our property. Not a single one of those people is now charged with anything. We’re charged with felonies that could cost us 4 years of our lives and our law licenses."
"There's no doubt about it—the government chooses to persecute us for doing no more than exercising our right to defend ourselves, our home, our property, and our family," he added. "We didn't fire a shot. People who were violently protesting in front of our house and were screaming death threats and threats of arson—nobody gets charged, but we get charged."
The incident outside the McCloskeys' house was sparked when a large crowd of protesters were making their way toward the home of Democratic St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, who lives in the same neighborhood, to demand that she resign. The protesters were upset that Krewson had publicly read the names and addresses of activists who submitted complaints to entirely defund the city’s police department.
But the crowd suddenly decided to veer onto the McCloskeys' private neighborhood a few blocks away from Krewson's home. Pictures later showed the wrought iron gate to the neighborhood, marked "Private Street," damaged.
The McCloskeys grabbed firearms and stood outside their home, urging the group to keep going and not stop. The confrontation was captured on video, showing Mark holding an AR-15 rifle and Patricia holding a semiautomatic handgun as they gestured for the protesters to leave the area.
President Condemned Effort to Prosecute
President Donald Trump in July said that the effort to charge the couple with a crime was "a disgrace," and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that Trump believed "it is absolutely absurd what is happening to the McCloskeys" and that the situation was "an extreme abuse of power by the prosecutor."McEnany at the time noted that there have been many cases brought to Gardner's attention regarding violent rioters that Gardner had failed to charge.
"But instead she’s charging the individuals who were defending themselves from violent protesters," McEnany said. "And you have Patricia McCloskey who said that they were telling her they were going to kill them, these protesters, at the moment they were waving their guns to protect themselves."
The McCloskeys voiced their support for Trump at the 2020 Republican National Convention in late August where they spoke in support of the Second Amendment—to keep and bear arms—while warning of the potential threat to that freedom posed by Democrats.
“Once through the gate, the victims advised the group that they were on a private street and trespassing and told them to leave. The group began yelling obscenities and threats of harm to both victims. When the victims observed multiple subjects who were armed, they then armed themselves and contacted police."
