The Missouri man who earned attention last year for brandishing an assault rifle at Black Lives Matter protestors is considering a run for the U.S. Senate.
Mark McCloskey, a wealthy personal-injury lawyer, would be running for the seat to be vacated by the retirement of Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Politico reported.
“I can confirm that it’s a consideration, yes,” McCloskey said in a brief interview on Tuesday.
In June 2020, McCloskey and his wife, Patricia, stood barefoot as they waved guns at protesters who marched past their home on the way to the residence of then-St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, D.
The couple claimed protestors had knocked down a gate and were acting like a “mob,” but demonstrators said the gate was open and they were acting peacefully.
The incident occurred little more than a month after the George Floyd killing.
The McCloskeys later were indicted on charges of unlawful use of a weapon and evidence tampering. They have pleaded not guilty.
The couple earned the support of former President Donald Trump, who retweeted video footage of the incident, and later said it was “disgraceful” the McCloskeys were facing legal action.
GOP Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a brief on the McCloskeys’ behalf.
The McCloskeys spoke in a pre-recorded video on the opening night of the 2020 Republican convention. They warned that liberals wanted to “demolish” suburban areas and take away gun rights.
“We have a God-given right to defend ourselves; the right of self-defense is one of the most basic civil rights — one of the most basic human rights,” Mark McCloskey said in a pre-convention interview with Fox News.
“You cannot have freedom and an opportunity to advance unless you have basic safety and security, and that it is not just limited to big cities: They are bringing it to a neighborhood near you.”
Mark McCloskey spoke at a Jackson County GOP dinner last weekend. Schmitt and Former Gov. Eric Greitens, both of whom have announced their candidacies for the senate, also attended.
Reps. Jason Smith, R-Mo., and Billy Long, R-Mo., also have been mentioned as potential candidates for Blunt’s seat. Smith and Long are scheduled to appear at separate fundraising events next week at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla.
Former state Sen. Scott Sifton and attorney Lucas Kunce are among Democrats being mentioned as possible senate candidates.
Blunt, who turned 71 in January, was widely expected to seek a third term in 2022. Before election to the Senate he served seven terms in the U.S. House. He also served two terms as Missouri’s secretary of state from 1985 to 1993.
Blunt is No. 4 in Senate Republican leadership. Other GOP senators not seeking reelection are Pat Toomey, R-Pa., Rob Portman, R- Ohio, Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Richard Burr, R-N.C.
Source: Newmax
