-- On Tuesday Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced President Donald Trump will get involved in the case of Mark and Patricia McCloskey
-- They pointed an AR-15 and handgun at protesters in front of their St. Louis mansion on June 28 and are now under investigation
-- Prosecutor Kim Gardner said Tuesday that Parson and Trump 'came after me'
-- 'It is also incredible that at a time when our nation is dealing with a rapidly spreading deadly virus... they are launching these dog-whistle attacks,' she said
-- Parson says couple had right to protect property under Missouri’s 'stand-your-ground' law that allows property owners to use force against intruders
-- Trump said charges against the McCloskeys would be a 'disgrace'

By MARLENE LENTHANG, 15 July 2020

The St. Louis couple who pointed guns at Black Lives Matters protesters last month say they believe they acted within their rights to protect their home as Missouri’s Governor announces President Donald Trump will get involved in the case.

Mark and Patricia McCloskey are under investigation for brandishing an AR-15 and a handgun at protesters in front of their mansion on June 28, claiming they feared for their lives.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, the prosecutor investigating the couple, says Gov. Mike Parson and Trump 'came after her' and are intimidating her for reviewing the case.

On Tuesday the Republican governor defended the McCloskeys saying the couple had 'every right to protect their property' at a coronavirus news briefing.

He said he spoke with Trump just before the press conference and the president 'doesn’t like what he sees and the way these people are being treated.'

He said Attorney General William P. Barr 'was represented on the call' and he believes both will 'take a look' at the McCloskey case.

'The president said that he would do everything he could within his powers to help with this situation and he would be taking action to do that,' Parson said.

Trump said any attempt to prosecute the couple for a crime would be a 'disgrace', during a Tuesday interview with conservative news website Townhall.

'When you look at St. Louis, where two people, they came out. They were going to be beat up badly if they were lucky. If they were lucky. They were going to be beat up badly and the house was going to be totally ransacked and probably burned down like they tried to burn down churches,' Trump said.

'And these people were standing there, never used it and they were legal, the weapons. And now I understand somebody local, they want to prosecute these people. It’s a disgrace,' he added.

Trump has been an outspoken opponent of protests unfolding across the country in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and decrying police brutality.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...protesters.html

"...the investigating prosecutor claims the president has 'come after me for doing my job'"