KENOSHA, Wis. – A St. Louis couple who stood on their property brandishing firearms as Black Lives Matter protestors marched past their home were spotted in Kenosha, Wisconsin, by Fox News on Monday.
Mark and Patricia McCloskey were parked outside of a hotel minutes from the Kenosha County Courthouse where Kyle Rittenhouse faces homicide charges for shooting and killing two men during a riot after a police-involved shooting in August 2020.
Wendy Rittenhouse, left, talks to her son Kyle Rittenhouse, before the start of his trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., on Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021. (Mark Hertzberg/Pool Photo via AP)
"We feel for Mr. Rittenhouse," Mark McCloskey told Fox News. "We feel he acted in self-defense."
"We think he's been politically prosecuted, as were we, and we're hoping that the jury find him not guilty on all counts and that he can go home a free man," he continued.
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The McCloskeys each pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge in their own case. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson pardoned them earlier this year.
Mark and Patricia McCloskey leave following a court hearing Wednesday in St. Louis. The McCloskeys have pleaded not guilty to two felony charges, unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with evidence, after been seen waving guns at protesters marching on their private street this past summer. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
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"[Rittenhouse is] a young man," McCloskey told Fox News. "He was doing the best he could to help his country and to save businesses up here in Kenosha, and as his reward, he's having the rest of his life threatened."
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McCloskey, who launched a bid for Senate in Missouri earlier this year, told Fox News that he was in town to show support, but did not want to become a distraction.
Judge Bruce Schroeder, right, reprimands Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger, left, in his conduct in line of questioning while cross-examining Kyle Rittenhouse during the trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse on November 10, 2021 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Photo by Sean Krajacic-Pool/Getty Images)
"I'm not going to show up to the courthouse until the jury is out so that we don't get accused of interfering in any way of the results," he said.
Jury deliberations in the Rittenhouse case are expected to begin as early as Monday.
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