Mark McCloskey, a St. Louis man who pointed a weapon at protesters on a private street is claiming he is the victim and that he was “in imminent fear they would run me over, kill me,” or so he told CNN.
McCloskey who owns a home on a private street in St. Louis claimed that protesters who were demonstrating against St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson broke through a private gate and threatened to kill him and his dogs and burn his house down.
“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,” McCloskey told CNN.
Video and photos show McCloskey armed with a long rifle and his wife who had a handgun outside their home on Sunday pointing the weapons at protesters.
ST. LOUIS, MO – SEPTEMBER 19:St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson speaks during a press conference at City Hall in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 19, 2017. Protests continued in the city following the acquittal of Jason Stockley, a former St. Louis Metropolitan Police officer, in the shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith in 2011. (Photo by Whitney Curtis for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The protesters were trying to make their way to Krewson’s residence, which is near where the McCloskey’s live, although McCloskey said that the mayor’s house could not be reached through his neighborhood.
Krewson has been subject to backlash after the mayor read out the names and addresses of those demanding police reform, something she has since apologized for insisting that she didn’t mean any harm.
McCloskey faced criticism and accusations that he was not for the Black Lives Matter movement, which he called “ridiculous.”
“I didn’t care what color they were. I didn’t care what their motivation was,” he said. “I was frightened. I was assaulted.”
“My clients are completely behind and endorsed the message of BLM,” McCloskey’s attorney Albert S. Watkins said. “What they are not capable of doing is embracing the abject utilization of that noble message that we all need to hear over and over and over again as a license to rape, rob, pillage bowl over all of our rights.”
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