Lawyer who became famous for pointing a rifle at BLM protesters to run for Senate

Mark McCloskey, a lawyer famous for pointing a rifle at anti-racist protesters in Missouri last June, announced that he will run for the Senate as a Republican.

Barefoot in the garden of his mansion on a private street in St. Louis, Mark McCloskey and his wife Patricia pointed guns at a crowd peacefully marching in front of their property.

The video of this couple of white Americans in their sixties targeting mostly black protesters went viral on social media. Even Donald Trump, who was then president, retweeted it without comment.

The couple, indicted for illegal use of firearms, were invited two months later to the Republican national convention in North Carolina before the November presidential election, in which the Democrat Joe Biden beat Trump.

“Our country is under attack. Big tech, big business, the swamp in (Washington DC), they all work together to destroy our God-given freedom, our culture, and our heritage,” said Mark McCloskey in the video in which he launches his candidacy.

He is counting on running as a Republican for the seat currently held by Roy Blunt, from the same party but who will not seek reelection in the November 2022 legislative elections. To obtain the candidacy he will have to face former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens and the state attorney, Eric Schmitt.

The scene that made McCloskey famous occurred during the Black Lives Matter movement demonstrations to denounce racism and police violence, sparked by the May 2020 death of George Floyd, an African-American who suffocated to death under the knee of a white policeman.

“God knocked on my door last summer, disguised as a raging crowd. It really made me wake up,” said McCloskey.