Gun-toting attorneys who waved firearms at BLM protestors threaten to sue city if their new demand is not met as they have their records expunged

A gun-toting Missouri couple who pointed their firearms at Black Lives Matters protesters have threatened to sue the city of St. Louis, after a judge expunged their convictions over the incident. 

Attorneys Mark and Patricia McCloskey filed requests to have their convictions wiped away in January, after they pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in 2021. 

On Wednesday, Judge Joseph P. Whyte expunged the charges from the records following the incident outside their mansion. 

The couple said they had felt threatened by the protestors who had been passing their home in June 2020, with Mark emerging clutching an assault rifle, while his wife waved a semi-automatic pistol. 

Immediately after the ruling, Mark McCloskey demanded that the city return their guns that were sized as part of their guilty pleas, threatening to file a lawsuit if not. 

Speaking to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, McCloskey said: 'It's time for the city to cough up my guns.' 

Facing opposition from city prosecutors and police, the expungements were the latest twist in a contentious four-year saga dating back to summer 2020. 

The McCloskeys were indicted by a grand jury in October of that year on felony charges of unlawful use of a weapon and evidence tampering. 

Prosecutors later amended the charges to give jurors the alternative of convictions of misdemeanor harassment instead of the weapons charge. 

An investigation by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s office led to the initial indictments — and harsh backlash from several Republican leaders. 

Then-President Donald Trump spoke out in defense of the couple, who appeared via video at the Republican National Convention.

The couple reached a plea deal, with Mark pleading guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge and his wife pleading guilty to misdemeanor harassment.

They surrendered Mark's Colt AR-15 rifle, which retails for about $1,000, and a Bryco .380-caliber pistol, which costs about $100 used.

The weapons were supposed to be destroyed after the couple turned them over, but were revealed to still exist during a legal hearing. 

McCloskey sued in 2021 to get the guns back but judges denied his request and an appeal.  

At a hearing in March, they argued for a clean slate, highlighting their upstanding conduct since the guilty pleas. 

In August of 2021, Missouri Governor Mike Parson pardoned the couple over the incident.  

Speaking to DailyMail.com earlier this year, Mark McCloskey said: 'It's a matter of the Second Amendment; it's a matter of the government not having a right to take private property without just cause and without compensation.

'That's a constitutional right on a variety of levels. 

'But mostly, it's just that I was being punished by a woke, Soros-funded prosecutor for doing no more than defending myself and exercising my second amendment rights, for which I should suffer no penalty whatsoever.'

Opposing the expungement, attorneys for the city's public safety department sought testimonies from protesters about the incident's impact. 

They also questioned use of footage used in ad campaigns for Mark McCloskey's unsuccessful run as a Republican nomination for the Senate.

Both the city and the Circuit Attorney office argued the couple remained a threat due to these factors. However, Judge Whyte ultimately disagreed.

He noted the protesters' testimonies highlighted a potential threat on the specific day of the incident, June 28th, 2020, but not evidence of ongoing danger. 

He emphasized the purpose of expungement as offering a second chance to those who have rehabilitated themselves. 

Additionally, he viewed McCloskey's political ad as protected free speech under the First Amendment, not proof of a continuing threat.

'It seems the parties have attempted to make political arguments in this proceeding,' Whyte wrote. 'This court, however, is required to look only at the relevant language in the statute.'