See UPDATE, below.

On June 28, in St. Louis, Missouri, Black Lives Matters protesters broke down a fence to enter a private street. Mark and Patricia McCloskey heard the racket and, terrified by the mob’s descent, emerged from their house holding what appeared to be a pistol and a semi-automatic rifle, and warned the protesters away from their home. A video of the gun-toting couple went viral. Now, St. Louis’s hard-left prosecutor, whose campaign George Soros funded and who drove a Republican governor out of office, has filed charges against the couple.

Here are the known facts, starting with that prosecutor. Kimberly Gardner was elected as a St. Louis circuit attorney in 2016. A George Soros super PAC gave $200,000 to her campaign. In 2018, Gardner essentially forced Governor Eric Greitens, a Republican and former Navy SEAL, out of office by using an outside investigator, William Tisaby, who committed slanderous perjury against Greitens, with Gardner covering for him.

Gardner’s taking out Greitens had the smell of a political hit job. Gardner is seeking reelection this year.

Fast forward to June 28. Mark and Patricia McCloskey live in an expensive house on a private road that leads to the home of St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson. A group of about several hundred Black Lives Matter protesters headed to Krewson’s house. To enter onto the private road, they had to break down a fence marked “private street” and “no trespassing.”

The couple, hearing noise from the mob moving towards them, thought that their home was being attacked. They emerged from the house with their weapons and told the mob that they were trespassing on private property. The McCloskey’s perception was that people in the mob immediately got aggressive and began shouting threats at them, with some pulling out pistol magazines.

Speaking to Sean Hannity, the McCloskeys said the crowd was very threatening:

“People were screaming everything,” Mark McCloskey said.

“[They said] that they were going to kill us,” Patricia McCloskey added Monday night. “They were going to come in there. They were going to burn down the house. They were going to be living in our house after I was dead, and they were pointing to different rooms and said, ‘That’s going to be my bedroom and that’s going to be the living room and I’m going to be taking a shower in that room,” she recalled.

The couple said protesters also threatened to harm their dog, who was outside at the time of the incident.

“They said ‘I’m going to be killing her, too,’“ Patricia told Sean Hannity.

Representatives for the protesters claim that all of them were peaceful and respectful.

On July 11, the police entered the McCloskeys’ home with a warrant and seized a semi-automatic rifle. Then, on Monday, Kimberly Gardner charged both the McCloskeys with a felony. According to a statement from Gardner, the protesters were peaceful and unarmed. Further, “It is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner at those participating in nonviolent protest.”

It's true that Missouri Rev. State. § 571.030.1(3) makes it unlawful if a person “Exhibits, in the presence of one or more persons, any weapon readily capable of lethal use in an angry or threatening manner.” However, § 571.030.5 states explicitly that subdivision (3) “shall not apply to persons who are engaged in a lawful act of defense” per § 563.031. That statute, in turn, sets out the state’s Castle Doctrine (the right to defend one’s person and home) and a stand-your-ground doctrine:

1. A person may, subject to the provisions of subsection 2 of this section, use physical force upon another person when and to the extent he or she reasonably believes such force to be necessary to defend himself or herself or a third person from what he or she reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of unlawful force by such other person. . . .

[snip]

2. A person shall not use deadly force upon another person under the circumstances specified in subsection 1 of this section unless:

[snip]

(3) Such force is used against a person who unlawfully enters, remains after unlawfully entering, or attempts to unlawfully enter private property that is owned or leased by an individual, or is occupied by an individual who has been given specific authority by the property owner to occupy the property, claiming a justification of using protective force under this section.

3. A person does not have a duty to retreat:(1) From a dwelling, residence, or vehicle where the person is not unlawfully entering or unlawfully remaining;(2) From private property that is owned or leased by such individual. . . .

Cutting through all that statutory language, what it means is that it’s an absolute defense to a charge of unlawfully waving around a gun without retreating if a person has a reasonable belief that he or someone else is in imminent danger. In this regard, it’s irrelevant that Gardner claims the crowd was “peaceful” and exercising its right to protest. What is relevant is that a mob of several hundred people smashed through a barrier onto private property, and swarmed near the McCloskeys, something that would terrify anyone.

Sen. Josh Hawley has asked Attorney General Bill Barr to investigate Gardner’s office for violating the McCloskeys’ civil rights. Missouri Gov. Mike Paron has also said that “without a doubt” he will pardon the McCloskeys. Neither action, of course, will protect them from the wrath of the mob, which has been threatening them since their story went viral. And now they’re disarmed.

Update from Thomas Lifson:

Missouri's Attorney General Eric Schmitt reacted to the charges by filing a motion to dismiss with the court, as Hank Berrien of The Daily Wire reports:

... Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a brief that would dismiss the charges. The brief stated that Schmitt “respectfully requests that the Court dismiss this case at the earlier possible opportunity.”

“The right to keep and bear arms is given the highest level of protection in our constitution and our laws, including the Castle Doctrine, which provides broad rights to Missourians who are protecting their property and lives from those who wish to do them harm,” Schmitt told Fox News, adding, “Despite this, Circuit Attorney Gardner filed suit against the McCloskeys, who, according to published reports, were defending their property and safety. As Missouri’s Chief law enforcement officer, I won’t stand by while Missouri law is being ignored.”

President Trump has a political opporunity in this case. Verbal support for the McCloskeys and attacks on the prosecutor, and Soros who backed her, will play well with suburban voters afraid of the mobs.

UPDATE: Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has filed a brief to dismiss the charges against the McCloskeys on the ground that the charges violate the McCloskeys' Second Amendment rights:

“The right to keep and bear arms is given the highest level of protection in our constitution and our laws, including the Castle Doctrine, which provides broad rights to Missourians who are protecting their property and lives from those who wish to do them harm,” Schmitt said in a prepared statement provided to Fox News.

“Despite this, Circuit Attorney Gardner filed suit against the McCloskeys, who, according to published reports, were defending their property and safety. As Missouri’s Chief law enforcement officer, I won’t stand by while Missouri law is being ignored,” Schmitt said.

The brief filing says the attorney general “respectfully requests that the Court dismiss this case at the earlier possible opportunity.”

Image: YouTube screengrab