Neighbors From Hell? The Insane Drama Behind the Gun-Toting St. Louis Lawyer Couple

Before they were photographed brandishing guns during a Black Lives Matter protest, Mark and Patricia McCloskey had made a name for themselves in their St. Louis neighborhood, suing and writing angry letters to community groups, and even accusing a neighborhood association of trespassing for taking a picture of their house.

The McCloskeys, a pair of lawyers, won internet fame this week after they were filmed pointing guns at racial justice protesters outside their mansion in a gated community. The McCloskeys said the protesters were trespassing on their private street, and that they feared for their lives. But the couple has, for decades, been wrapped up in conflict in the area, sometimes in cases that foreshadowed their now-infamous confrontation with Black Lives Matter activists.

Footage of the McCloskeys went viral on Sunday after activists walked on their St. Louis street en route to a protest outside the mayor’s home nearby. Standing outside their palatial home, the couple—Mark wearing a pink polo and carrying a rifle and Patricia with her finger on the trigger of a pistol—looked like a portrait of weaponized white wealth.

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