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Famed “gun couple” Mark and Patricia McCloskey of St. Louis, traveled to Kenosha this week to support 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who’s on trial for double homicide after he fatally shot two rioters and injured a third, last summer.
Rittenhouse has pleaded not guilty on all charges, citing self-defense.
Mr. McCloskey said he is hoping for an acquittal on all counts for the teen, noting that he and his wife support Americans’ Second Amendment right to defend themselves, particularly when the government fails to do so.
“We haven’t been in there to hear all the evidence,” Mark McCloskey said, adding, “From what we understand, from what I’ve seen, I’m hoping for an acquittal on all counts.”
“We’re just here to support people who exercise their Second Amendment rights to defend themselves, particularly when the government abdicates that duty and fail to protect their citizens,” he continued.
“I mean, we’ve got programs to ‘defund the police’ all over the place,” Mark McCloskey explained, “but if you defund the police and the government is not there to protect the citizens, citizens have to protect themselves.”
WATCH:
“If you defund the police, and the government is not there to protect the citizens, citizens have to protect themselves” Mark McCloskey speaking outside the Kenosha courthouse today, as the Rittenhouse case nears a verdict #Kenosha pic.twitter.com/d4CkMBJ7Xi
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) November 16, 2021
Last summer, the McCloskeys brandished their guns when Black Lives Matter protesters trespassed through their neighborhood. In June, the couple pleaded guilty to misdemeanor offenses related to encounter, The Daily Wire reported:
“Mark McCloskey pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault and was fined $750. Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment and was fined $2,000. Both agreed to give up their guns used in the altercation.”
Months later, Republican Missouri Governor Michael Parson pardoned the duo.
Laurie Skrivan/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS via Getty Images
Speaking to Fox News, the pair reiterated their support for Rittenhouse.
“We feel for Mr. Rittenhouse,” Mark McCloskey said. “We feel he acted in self-defense.”
“We think he’s been politically prosecuted, as were we, and we’re hoping that the jury find him not guilty on all counts and that he can go home a free man,” he continued.
“[Rittenhouse is] a young man,” Mr. McCloskey added. “He was doing the best he could to help his country and to save businesses up here in Kenosha, and as his reward, he’s having the rest of his life threatened.”
Some suspected the jury in the Rittenhouse trial would start deliberations on Monday evening, but the judge sent the jury home and asked them to return back by 9 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Rittenhouse on Tuesday morning notably picked his final 12 jurors by pulling assigned numbers out of a raffle-style drum.
With 18 jurors left, the defendant was asked to randomly pull six scraps of paper from all the assigned numbers of the jurors. The six he drew were asked to be alternates, who will likely not be used, the judge said, but could be in theory. The leftover 12 will decide the fate of Rittenhouse.
Related: Missouri Governor Pardons McCloskeys Of Crimes Related To Standoff With BLM Protesters
Related: WATCH: Kyle Rittenhouse Picks His Final 12 Jurors By Pulling Numbers Out Of A Raffle-Style Drum
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