ST. LOUIS _ Mark McCloskey had readied his home for violent activists. Days before protesters came to Portland Place, McCloskey had left fire extinguishers in every room on the lower level of his mansion. He had a rifle at the ready in his living room, just inside the door.
McCloskey had watched television coverage of the 7-Eleven store in downtown St. Louis that was burned to the ground by rioters on June 1 and worried about something similar happening in his gated community in the Central West End, not far from the mayor's home.
Protests remained mostly peaceful in the month since then, especially during the daytime. No protests involved marching into people's homes.
