Patterico's Pontifications

6/30/2020

Follow-up On St. Louis Couple Protecting Their Home From Protesters

Filed under: General — Dana @ 11:18 am



[guest post by Dana]

I wanted post the interview the husband, Mark McCloskey gave to KSDK News in St. Louis:

A couple of things to note:

1) McClosekey says that he initially told protesters that they were on private property, which enraged protesters.

2) Protesters broke the locked gate in half to enter the neighborhood.

3) Some protesters were wearing body armor.

4) They were threatened with their lives. Per McCloskey: “One fellow standing right in front of me pulled out two pistol magazines, clicked them together and said, ‘You’re next.’ That was the first death threat we got that night”.

5) They were told that their house would be burned down, his office building would be burned down, and even the family dog’s life was threatened.

6) McCloskey says that everything inside the gates in Portland Place is private property, nothing is public property. He equated it to being inside one’s living room.

7) McCloskey says that he was worked on a number of civil rights cases in his decades-long career as a lawyer. He is currently representing a “man seen on video being kicked by a now-former Woodson Terrace, Missouri officer after a carjjacking in May 2019”.

8) McCloskey also confirmed that his wife does not know how to shoot a gun.

Also, State representative Rasheen Aldridge, who helped lead the protest, claims that the “protesters were peaceful and no threats were ever made”.

When asked why the group marched on private property, Aldridge said, “Just like in many disobedient protests, even in the ’60s, you break laws, make people feel uncomfortable. We’re not doing anything where we’re hurting anyone or putting anyone in danger.”

“As a leader, [Mayor Krewson] you don’t do stuff like that. … It’s only right that we visit her at her home,” said state Rep. Rasheen Aldridge, a St. Louis Democrat, speaking into a megaphone at the march.

Estimates put the crowd size anywhere from 300-500 people.

–Dana

26 Responses to “Follow-up On St. Louis Couple Protecting Their Home From Protesters”

  1. I believe that the couple were truly frightened about how quickly the mob could get out of hand.

    Dana (25e0dc)

  2. I believe that McCloskey is lying about several different things.

    Davethulhu (7d96ba)

  3. McCloskey also confirmed that his wife does not know how to shoot a gun.

    Jeeze, dude, then give her the pistol but tell her to stay the hell inside. Imagine what could have happened if she panicked and accidentally fired the thing, which wouldn’t be a stretch considering she was holding it with her hand on the trigger and waving it around like a lunatic.

    JVW (ee64e4)

  4. I used to have a cigarette lighter that looked just like her pistol. It was stolen from my locker when I was stationed in Korea. I can tell that’s a real pistol because she crooks her arm to support the weight.

    JVW’s right of course. We lose more of our fine motor skills than we realized under stress. Stubbing a toe, being yelled at, even making sure we don’t drop a pistol, they all cause all our fingers to retract. It is really easy to pull a trigger accidentally.

    Poor lady, scared out of her mind, making a lot of dumb decisions, permanently hated by millions of people like any of us would be if our worst moment were politically useful video. There’s a human being in there who loves her family, seeks comfort, deserves respect.

    I have been told to respect George Floyd because no matter what he did wrong, his life mattered. That is an argument that resonates when it’s shown instead of preached. There’s a reason men like MLK, Christian Minister, were so powerful through deeds.

    Dustin (739c8b)

  5. More frightening: in the video, in the midst of a pandemic, neither were wearing masks.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  6. Thanks, Dana. Important info. Now I want to see more video taken during the ruckus. I find it hard to believe that only one video exists. Stupid actors often want a record of their “heroic” actions.

    felipe (023cc9)

  7. I believe this was as much about class warfare as anything else. There is tremendous resentment toward people who are able to live in homes like the McCloskey’s. As if their hard work and ability to earn money is, in itself, corrupt. That they are white certainly works against them too. If the they were a minority couple, I think the reaction to them by protesters may have been a bit different. But then again, given the exclusive community, protesters may have just as easily labeled them as sellouts, or something worse. I think the protesters were filled with envy and anger at this class of people, aside from their anger at the Mayor’s doxing of constituents.

    Dana (25e0dc)

  8. More frightening: in the video, in the midst of a pandemic, neither were wearing masks.

    Well, they were at their own home and I think when you are suddenly startled by noise coming from the street it might not be at the forefront of your mind to mask-up before going outside to check it out.

    JVW (ee64e4)

  9. He was mistaken that the protestors were trespassing.
    https://twitter.com/iamshanemorris/status/1277509594051416070?s=21

    Time123 (9f42ee)

  10. If the they were a minority couple, I think the reaction to them by protesters may have been a bit different. But then again, given the exclusive community, protesters may have just as easily labeled them as sellouts, or something worse

    …the other c word, plural. But my retort is the same as James Hetfield’s following the release of Load (1996).

    Sellouts? Of course…every f’n night!

    urbanleftbehind (9b68ac)

  11. I really wish the Press would give us more information about the “Peaceful” protesters. What are their names, where do they live, what are their politics, how many were there, why did they confront this couple?

    The MSM seems mysteriously incurious about these poor babies that were “scared” and “Frightened” by the guns being “waved around”.

    rcocean (2e1c02)

  12. When asked why the group marched on private property, Aldridge said, “Just like in many disobedient protests, even in the ’60s, you break laws, make people feel uncomfortable. We’re not doing anything where we’re hurting anyone or putting anyone in danger.”

    “As a leader, [Mayor Krewson] you don’t do stuff like that. … It’s only right that we visit her at her home,” said state Rep. Rasheen Aldridge, a St. Louis Democrat, speaking into a megaphone at the march.

    This need to lie to protect your brotherhood, the people on your team, it’s something Aldridge would claim all cops are doing. Bad apple = all cops are bad. But Aldridge is doing it. Where there’s no doubt of misconduct, the misconduct is everyone else’s fault for provoking. Not her team’s fault for escalating or rising above. When there’s any doubt of misconduct, it is denied 100% every time, all day long. Does anyone believe that in a mass of 500 people tearing into private property, led by a politician telling them it’s good to break the law, threats weren’t made to burn down that property? People weren’t scared? If people weren’t scared, why all these scared people anyway? I know that these scared people are ‘bad’ and they don’t matter but at a certain point BLM leaders need to SHOW us the compassion, the accountability, the community that they want. It’s not even about justice. It’s just practical.

    St Louis has a lot of bombed out poor neighborhoods, and compassion, accountability, and community will work a lot better than this mess.

    I’ve been to hundreds of protests, no exaggeration. If they were this big, there were some people losing their minds saying and doing ridiculous things. When someone tries to burn down this house in a month we know Aldridge will just say ‘aw shucks’ and act like this isn’t her fault. Either bad apples spoil the bunch or they don’t.

    Dustin (739c8b)

  13. weird how the left-wingers are all on the side of the mob. There would’ve been no trouble if these this angry mob and not threatened these people and broken into a gate community. Talk about blaming the victims. But that’s Democrats for you.

    rcocean (2e1c02)

  14. I am just reading that St. Louis local news is estimating the crowd size at 300. CBS News, which I read earlier and quoted, said 500 showed up at the mayor’s home. Given that, I’ve edited the post to read: Estimates put the crowd size anywhere from 300-500 people.

    Dana (25e0dc)

  15. There should be security gate camera footage, which I would be interested to see. I’m surprised the neighborhood hasn’t put it out already.

    None of the footage we saw yesterday makes it look like the crowd is as aggressive as he reports. It’s possible, though, that in his heightened state the crowd appeared more aggressive than it was. However he’s also saying all the right legal words that would keep him from getting into trouble, so IDK.

    Nic (896fdf)

  16. @9. It was quite a visual contrast to the marching protesters– who were wearing masks, at least on camera.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  17. 17, given their lack of proper seasoning in re the firearms, hot asymptomatic breath dispersed via a matterhorn or vuvuzela might have been a more lethal combination.

    urbanleftbehind (9b68ac)

  18. “Just like in many disobedient protests, even in the ’60s, you break laws, make people feel uncomfortable.”

    Social media is filled with images over the past month of people being extremely ‘disobedient’, including assault, breaking and entering, looting, arson, even stopping vehicles, shattering windows and going after the passengers. You can’t blame the couple for ‘feeling uncomfortable’ (aka imminent danger) and thinking they may need to protect themselves and their property.

    Maybe if the media and Dem politicians weren’t cheering the protesters on with barely a hint of disapproval on the lawlessness and destruction these incidents would not be happening all over the country.

    The next time this happens it probably won’t end well.

    And as said above (and I said yesterday) these people are probably going to be targeted in the future.

    harkin (5af287)

  19. Just as a comment; St. Louis is known to have many of these ‘private streets.’

    It’s better to think of them as glorified driveways. McCloskey is correct when he said there is no public property past the gate that the protesters mangled and tore down on their way in.
    It may look a little like a sidewalk, but it’s not a public sidewalk. They were on private property, there is no public right of way in there.

    They are not included in city services, the residents pay for their own upkeep completely.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVqw4G6Cu0M is an example and you’ll be able to find many others.

    In addition; don’t think that the McCloskeys are super rich. They bought their house in 1988 as a burned out wreck (It was built by the Faust family, who married into the Busch family of Anheiser-Busch fame.) They spent the past 30 years renovating it. It’s their life’s work.
    (Past their law firm.)

    Ingot9455 (cfa567)

  20. 18. Given their proper seasoning in firearms handling, it’s a small miracle no one got hurt. But no jury would convict on brandishing charges, even if some DA bothered to bring charges. This is exactly the kind of situation the castle doctrine addresses.

    Gryph (08c844)

  21. 21. lack of proper…*

    Gryph (08c844)

  22. A couple trained dogs and the owners could stay inside and enjoy.

    mg (8cbc69)

  23. @10

    He was mistaken that the protestors were trespassing.
    https://twitter.com/iamshanemorris/status/1277509594051416070?s=21

    Time123 (9f42ee) — 6/30/2020 @ 12:22 pm

    Twitter due is wrong.

    Those streets and sidewalks are literally private properties that the residences pay for.

    There are things like utility easements and the like, but everything else is private properties.

    This is literally a multi-decade topic in St. Louis whether or not enclaves like these should exists.

    Twitter dude isn’t showing the whole story.

    whembly (c30c83)

  24. On CNN, Chris Cuomo, who went ballistic awhile back because one cyclist was on his property, interviews McCloskey and portrays him as completely over reactive for choosing to brandish a weapon to discourage a very large mob forming at his property (at a time when lawless mobs all over the country doing destruction and theft are on TV and the authorities not responding).

    Cuomo asked “did anything happen to you or your property?”

    Making McCloskey’s point for him.
    _

    harkin (5af287)

  25. what appepened was that the protesters were marching toward the house of the mayor (which they would not have harmed because that would be counterproductive) but this couple did not know it. They yelled at them that this was private property, which angered the marchers because it asserted they were subject to a higher authority.

    Sammy Finkelman (70b0bc)


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