McCloskeys make stop at Lewis County GOP dinner

Dan Musholt, chairman of the Lewis County (Mo.) Republican Party, was very excited to have Mark and Patty McCloskey make a pit stop in LaGrange earlier this month on their way to the annual Pella Tulip Festival in Iowa.

The couple gained notoriety when in June of 2020 a crowd of about 500 Black Lives Matters protestors entered their subdivision in St. Louis’s Central West End neighborhood on their way then St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson’s home, which was nearby.

As the crowd approached, Mark McCloskey shouted “private property” and “get out” at them. He and his wife held guns outside their front door as they were protecting their home. No shots were fired, and no one was hurt, but they were charged by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner with unlawful use of a weapon. In December, a circuit judge ruled Gardner was using the prosecution for political purposes and last month, the Missouri Supreme Court rejected Gardner’s appeal, so a special prosecutor is now handling the case.

Mark McCloskey is also testing the waters for a possible U.S. Senate run in 2022. Missouri Republican Roy Blunt has announced he is retiring and a crowded field is already shaping up including former Governor Eric Greitens, who resigned after a sex scandal and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt.

Mark and Patty McCloskey stopped in Northeast Missouri on May 7 on their way to the annual tulip festival in Iowa, an event they try to attend each year. The Lewis County GOP sponsored-event was held at Bob Havermale’s Practical Tactical indoor shooting range in LaGrange.

Video by Tim Spake and Leo Olson.