Mark and Patricia McCloskey defending their St. Louis home June 28, 2020 (Video screenshot)
A television station's investigation has revealed that Kim Gardner, the controversial St. Louis circuit attorney who insisted on charging a man and wife who defended their home from "protesters" while armed, has been "jetting around on someone else's dime" but has failed to disclose her acceptance of the special donations "as required by law."
Gardner insisted on charging Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who were on video defending their home, which is on a private street, when Black Lives Matter marchers broke down a gate to get in.
They reported their lives were threatened by the marchers.
Veteran conservative columnist Cal Thomas explained the prosecution provides Democrats with an example of how to confiscate guns legally.
For years, he explained, "conservative groups and especially the National Rifle Association have been warning that the government would find a way to confiscate the guns of law-abiding Americans. Many dismissed what they regarded as a scare tactic designed to raise money."
But the charging of the McCloskeys with "felony unlawful use of a weapon for displaying guns during a racial injustice protest outside their mansion" shows those fears are "well founded," he said.
It is KMOV that reported on its investigation results.
"A News 4 investigation has found that Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has been flying all around the country and the globe with organizations who want to reform the criminal justice system," the report said. "
But the station said Gardner has failed to report those trips, "as required by law."
"Sources tell News 4 that some of the trips were paid for in full, or in part, by an organization called Fair and Just Prosecution, a group that professes to support progressive prosecutors. The organization has repeatedly applauded many of Gardner's actions, including the charges against Mark and Patricia McCloskey for brandishing guns in the Central West End last month," the station reported.
The laws in St. Louis require elected officials to disclose their trips and how they were funded. Sometimes, Missouri law also mandates information about who paid for travel and lodging, the station said.
Gardner disclosed some Fair and Just Prosecution trips in 2017, but none in 2018 and 2019.
The report said for 2019, Treasurer Tishaura Jones properly revealed 15 trips and Mayor Lyda Krewson disclosed five.
The station's sources said Gardner's travels were "prolific and problematic," because "she was unreachable on trips, making it difficult to get decisions made." The report explained among the issues affected by Gardner's absences included budgets, grants and personnel issues like hiring and firing.
Gardner's office told the station:
Since shortly after her election, Circuit Attorney Gardner has been an active member in Fair and Just Prosecution’s network of progressive prosecutors. She was invited to participate because of her beliefs, values, and goals. Those goals are in line with FJP’s priorities and the same as policies the Circuit Attorney has promised to deliver for St. Louis since day one. The suggestion that there is any quid pro quo involved here is patently absurd. By working with FJP, she has access to a network of prosecutors who are also implementing change in their communities across the country, prosecutors who are working to create a fairer, more equitable justice system and move beyond the failed policies of the past that created our mass incarceration crisis. Ms. Gardner has been able to share ideas and strategies, learn new approaches, and benefit from the experience and expertise of others. Her work with FJP has benefitted the office and, by extension, the people of St. Louis.
Circuit Attorney Gardner refuses to apologize for seeking reasonably opportunities to further her knowledge and access prosecutors from throughout the nation for best practice. The suggestion that she would be persuaded to follow an alternative that is not focused on addressing the root causes of crime for a few plane tickets and hotel rooms is insulting.
The Circuit Attorney is confident that the public will see through this veiled attempt to disparage her and her efforts to continue to change our criminal justice system to be more just and fair.
FJP confirmed to News 4 it pays for prosecutors' food, lodging and airfare for events.
The organization also confirmed some of its funding comes from an organization related to George Soros, the far-left billionaire activist who also contributed to Gardner's political campaign.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is trying to have the charges brought by Gardner against the McCloskey's dismissed, telling "Fox News @ Night that the right to self-defense is "deeply rooted" in the Constitution, and the state has "castle doctrine" upholding broad rights for people to protect their lives, families and homes.
"At a time when there's calls to defund the police, at a time with skyrocketing violent crime rates – including here in Missouri and in St. Louis – we've got a prosecutor now targeting individuals for exercising their fundamental rights under the Second Amendment," Schmitt said.
Schmitt told Fox News the McCloskeys live on a private street and "the charges amount to nothing more than a political prosecution."
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson also said he would consider pardoning the couple should they be charged.
Here's the incident:
In a video posted to social media, peaceful protesters in St. Louis calling for police reforms walked past a couple brandishing firearms as they were ordered to stay away from the couple’s home https://t.co/bYl06iAiTo pic.twitter.com/wOZ1Wr3yac
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 29, 2020
Thomas wrote that Gardner has it backwards. It was not the McCloskeys whose actions "risked creating a violent situation."
"This case is not only important on its own but demonstrates what could happen if Joe Biden wins the presidency."
He recalled that Joe Biden told onetime Democratic candidate Beto O'Rourke he would be the one to "take care of the gun problem," after O'Rourke promised, "Hell yes, we are going to take your AR-15."
Thomas wrote: "Having established a precedent that the government has a right to confiscate a weapon owned by a law-abiding citizen, what other guns would O'Rourke (and Biden) come for and on what grounds? What would stop them if more liberal judges are named to the courts and they ignore or re-interpret the Second Amendment?"
He said the Missouri case "should be a lesson learned about one of the many dangers of a Joe Biden presidency."
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