by WorldTribune Staff, August 3, 2025 Real World News
Mark and Patricia McCloskey have finally gotten back the AR-15 that police seized from them as they protected their St. Louis home during the Black Lives Matter/Antifa riots in the summer of 2020.
In June 2020, a video of Mark McCloskey armed with the AR-15 and Patricia McCloskey with a pistol went viral online after a swarm of rioters broke down an iron gate and ignored a “No Trespassing” sign on their private street.
The AR-15 ended up in the possession of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, while the pistol wound up in the possession of the St. Louis Sheriff’s Department.
“It only took 3 lawsuits, 2 trips to the Court of Appeals and 1,847 days, but I got my AR15 back!” Mark McCloskey posted to his X account on Friday, along with several photos of him carrying the gun.
Mark McCloskey said he expects the pistol to be returned by next week.
Related: Who is Mark McCloskey and why was he photographed brandishing his AR-15? June 30, 2020
In a separate X post, Mark McCloskey also shared a video of himself retrieving the rifle from a police station.
“That gun may have only been worth $1,500 or something, and it cost me a lot of time and a lot of effort to get it back, but you have to do that,” he told Fox News Digital, adding he owns other weapons. “You have to let them know that you will never back down, you’ll never give up.”
The McCloskeys were charged with unlawful use of a weapon by then-St. Louis prosecutor Kim Gardner. Shortly after that, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt moved to dismiss charges brought by Gardner.
In 2021, the McCloskeys pleaded guilty to misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and second-degree harassment but later were granted a pardon by then-Missouri Gov. Mike Parson.
Last month, a Missouri appeals court confirmed the expungement of the misdemeanor convictions, which, under state law, means it is as though the incident never happened, Mark McCloskey said.
“We defended our home, were persecuted by the Left, smeared by the press, and threatened with death, but we never backed down,” Mark McCloskey said.
“Each and every one of us owns a personal responsibility for our freedom and our democratic republic,” he added.
Picking up the AR at the police property room@ pic.twitter.com/Jcp16tYhpA
— Mark McCloskey (@mccloskeyusa) August 1, 2025
5 years after BLM summer, St. Louis couple wins back AR-15 added by Editor Two on
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