'Take this country back': Gun-toting Mark McCloskey announces Senate run as he faces criminal weapons charges

St. Louis resident Mark McCloskey and his wife, Patricia McCloskey, became celebrities in the right-wing media following an incident on June 28, 2020, when they stood in front of their home brandishing firearms at George Floyd demonstrators. And now, Mark McCloskey is planning to run for the U.S. Senate seat in Missouri being vacated by Republican Roy Blunt.

Mark McCloskey made the announcement during an appearance on "Tucker Carlson Tonight," the nightly show that far-right pundit Carlson hosts on Fox News. McCloskey told Carlson, "God came knocking on my door disguised as an angry mob. If we don't stand up now and take this country back, it's going away."

Journalist Elliot Hannon, mocking McCloskey in an article published by Slate this week, observed, "The Republican Party is so viral it's now nothing more than a meme, a passing flight of celebrity, happenstance caught on camera. McCloskey released a several-minute campaign ad that is like a greatest hits of Republican grievances: mobs, Marxists, cancel culture, systemic racism, critical race theory, freedom of speech — it's all in there as McCloskey, now donning jeans and a plaid shirt with its sleeves rolled up for effect, outlines all of the menaces that are aligned against good God-fearing folks just like him."

Following the June 28, 2020 incident, right-wing media outlets painted McCloskey as a courageous homeowner who wasn't afraid to protect his propert during a time of civil unrest. But many others viewed his as someone who was waving a weapon in response to unarmed demonstrators.

That day, hundreds of protesters, including Black Lives Matters supporters, entered Portland Place — a private gated community in St. Louis — and planned to demonstrate in front of the home of Mayor Lyda Krewson, a Democrat.

On May 18, Mark McCloskey tweeted:

The McCloskeys are facing criminal weapons charges because of the June 28, 2020 incident, and the case is ongoing.

Hannon notes, "Elected Republicans up and down the line have vowed to step in if the couple are convicted, including Missouri's Republican Gov.Mike Parson, who promised last year to pardon the McCloskeys if they're found guilty."