Man infamous for waving gun at BLM protestors with wife now running for state senate

A man who went viral for all the wrong reasons after he pointed a gun at Black Lives Matter protesters alongside his wife last year hopes to make it to the Missouri senate.

Posting in a campaign video on Twitter, Mark McCloskey who waved firearms at protestors last June, leading to a jury charging him and his wife with the unlawful use of a weapon, said he was taking “a stand” by running for the position.

“When the angry mob came to destroy my house and kill my family, I took a stand against them. Now I’m asking for the privilege to take that stand for all of us. I will never back down,” he said.

He added that various institutions are taking away “our freedom, our culture and our heritage” and said that the incident that catapulted him into notoriety had inspired him to run for senate.

McCloskey and his wife, Patricia McCloskey divided the nation when they waved guns at the BLM protestors who were marching to the mayor’s office and happened to walk past their house. After the event they spoke at the Republican National Convention and earned the praise of then-President Donald Trump.

But they are also due to stand trial facing in November facing charges for the incident. They argue they were exercising their Second Amendment right to bear arms and abiding by a state statute that allows Missourians to use deadly force against intruders.

In the - frankly too long, at over three minute - campaign video, McCloskey also frothed about how “cancel culture”, “the lie of systemic racism” and “erosion of election integrity” are going to “destroy us all” - nice.

“I’ve spent 36 years fighting for the rights of my fellow Missourians. And Missourians want a fighter who will stand up against cancel culture, the poison of critical race theory, the violent mobs and rising crime, and the spread of socialism,” McCloskey said in a statement. “After being encouraged to run by people all over Missouri, today I’m announcing that I’m entering the race for U.S. Senate to fight for Missouri values.”

Reacting to his pitch, Twitter had this to say:

The election takes place in November. If he loses, he will have to finally “back down”.