WASHINGTON _ Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley asked the Department of Justice on Thursday to open an investigation into St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner's prosecution of the St. Louis couple that brandished guns at protesters last month.
Gardner's office is investigating Mark and Patricia McCloskey for unlawful use of a weapon after an infamous June 28 viral video showed the couple outside their mansion pointing firearms at marchers on a private road headed to a protest against police brutality at St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson's house.
The incident has become a Rorschach test for the current political moment, with many conservatives arguing that the couple exercised their Second Amendment Rights in the face of trespassing protesters. Others, including progressives and supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement, viewed the wealthy couple as a symbol of white privilege.
Hawley, a Republican who served as Missouri attorney general before his election to the U.S. Senate, urged Attorney General William Barr to open a civil rights investigation into Gardner, contending her investigation of the couple is an abuse of power.
"When help from the police or from nearby security failed to arrive, this family, the McCloskeys, did what any reasonable person would do: they retrieved their lawfully owned firearms and defended their property and their lives. The confrontation was resolved with no one being hurt," Hawley said in the letter.
"Unfortunately, this family is facing new threats, not from demonstrators but from the local government. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner is now threatening to prosecute not the trespassers, but the McCloskeys, and she is using the powers of her office to target them. Her office has seized their firearms, and police have applied for warrants in the case, with an indictment believed to be imminent," he said.
Gardner's office responded to Hawley Thursday morning on Twitter. "Baseless. Our office will continue to investigate this matter, and will not be bullied by a sitting U.S. Senator or anyone else," the tweet from the office's official account said.
In a statement later, Gardner said: "I am deeply disappointed that a U.S. Senator would intervene in a local matter that is under investigation."
Hawley's request comes after Missouri Gov. Mike Parson discussed the case with President Donald Trump. Parson said Tuesday that he expected the Justice Department to look into it.
"I think you'll see some sort of actions. I think they're going to look into things," Parson, a Republican, said Tuesday about his call with Trump.
"We got to explain to him why it's very difficult for an elected official in a state, for a governor, how you can take to remove somebody from office _ or what powers you have as a governor," Parson said. "I don't want to make it sound like he's going to come in here and remove somebody from office, but I guarantee that the president's focused on what's happening here."
Gardner, the elected prosecutor of St. Louis, has long been a target criticism from conservatives since her high-profile role in the two felony prosecutions against former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens.
At the time, Hawley was one of the only statewide Republican officials to defend Gardner's investigations against Greitens as she faced a torrent of criticism from the Missouri Republican Party.
The cases were ultimately dropped, but they helped lead to Greitens' resignation and the elevation of Parson as governor.
