The White House on Tuesday condemned a local Missouri official for charging a suburban couple with felonies after they publicly displayed their firearms to ward off protesters.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner charged Mark and Patricia McCloskey on Monday with a felony count of unlawful use of a firearm.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said during a press briefing that she spoke to President Donald Trump about the case Tuesday morning.
“He said, ‘It is absolutely absurd what is happening to the McCloskeys,'” McEnany said. “He noted that this is an extreme abuse of power by the prosecutor.”
McEnany said it was also absurd that local officials were not charging violent rioters, but instead people lawfully defending their property.
She recalled that the couple faced 300-500 protesters who tore down the gates protecting their private community and that the McCloskeys said their lives were threatened.
“They were completely within their right and it’s an egregious abuse of power,” McEanany.