Supreme Court declines appeal over law licenses from St. Louis couple who waved guns at 2020 protest

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from a St. Louis couple who could face indefinite suspension of their law licenses after they waved guns at a racial justice protest outside their home in 2020.

Mark McCloskey, a personal injury attorney and Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Missouri, and his wife, Patricia McCloskey, drew national attention for walking onto their front yard with guns during a protest of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The protesters were walking to the home of the St. Louis mayor at the time.

Mark McCloskey pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge and Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment. Missouri Gov. Michael Parson pardoned the McCloskeys in 2021, but the state office responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct by lawyers sought to suspend their law licenses.

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The Supreme Court of Missouri in February agreed to suspend the licenses indefinitely but stayed the suspensions and placed the two lawyers on probation for a year. Conditions of the probation included that the McCloskeys provide quarterly reports to a probation monitor – including whether they are charged with additional crimes – and 100 hours of free legal services.

In their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the McCloskeys argued that the state court's ruling violated their Second Amendment rights and their rights to due process because they were "exercising lawful rights to bear arms in defense of their person, family, and home."

Mark McCloskey is among several Republican candidates running to fill the seat held by retiring GOP Sen. Roy Blunt.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Supreme Court won't take case of gun-waving candidate Mark McCloskey