The couple from St. Louis who waved guns as Black Lives Matter demonstrators trespassed on a private street will partake in the Republican National Convention next week.
Mark and Patricia McCloskey will endorse President Donald Trump for reelection and will appear on the RNC’s virtual program, said the Trump campaign. They were previously featured in a Trump campaign-related event.
Joel Schwartz, one of the lawyers for Mark and Patricia McCloskey, told NPR on Tuesday the couple will speak. It’s not clear what day.
Albert Watkins, another lawyer for the McCloskeys, told NPR that there has been “ongoing contact with the White House.” Watkins said they will be joining through a video link.
The pair face felony charges after brandishing firearms when protesters marched through the couple’s neighborhood to Democratic St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson’s house.
Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, a Democrat, launched an investigation into the couple last month over the incident. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, also vowed to pardon the couple if they are convicted.
“It is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner at those participating in nonviolent protest,” she said in a statement at the time.
The couple, via attorneys, said they armed themselves because they felt threatened by the protesters. Video footage of the incident went viral.
“I didn’t care what color they were,” Mark McCloskey told CNN about the demonstration that happened in late June. “I didn’t care what their motivation was. I was frightened. I was assaulted.”
He also said that demonstrators yelled obscenities and threatened them. According to a police report obtained by the Epoch Times, “When the victims observed multiple subjects who were armed, they then armed themselves and contacted police.”
Schwartz, their lawyer, previously added told news outlets “the First Amendment right of every citizen to have their voice and opinion heard… must be balanced with the Second Amendment and Missouri law, which entitle each of us to protect our home and family from potential threats,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
He previously said that “based upon Missouri law and the Castle Doctrine, the McCloskeys were 100 percent within their rights.”
Mark McCloskey and his lawyers also alleged the Black Lives Matter demonstrators broke down the gate to their private street, although this has been disputed by protesters. However, later pictures showed that the iron gate was damaged.
“I believe in my heart of hearts that the only thing that kept those mobsters, that crowd, away from us is that we were standing there with guns,” Mark McCloskey told the Post-Dispatch.
Isabel Van Brugen and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report
