Patricia McCloskey and Mark McCloskey have been indicted for exhibiting a weapon and tampering with evidence.
The St. Louis couple went viral for brandishing an AR-15 and a pistol when confronted by protesters in June. When demonstrators walked through their neighborhood, the couple immediately brought out firearms in an effort to scare the seemingly unarmed Black Lives Matter protesters away.
"I was a person scared for my life, protecting my wife, my home, my health, my livelihood. I was a victim of a mob that came through the gate," Mark McCloskey said.
Footage of the incident went viral on social media. Ultimately, it caught the attention of President Donald Trump and Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany who sided with the McCloskeys.
"It is absolutely absurd, what is happening to the McCloskeys," McEnany said, referencing a conversation with Donald Trump.
In support of the McCloskey's actions, President Donald Trump invited the couple to speak at the Republican National Convention in August. However, his support has done little to assist the couple in the courtroom. In July, the couple was charged with unlawfully using their weapons, a class E felony.
"What you are witnessing here is just an opportunity for the government, the leftist, democrat government of the City of St. Louis to persecute us for doing no more than exercising our Second Amendment rights," Mark McCloskey said after learning of the indictment.
"They broke down our gate, they trespassed on our property. Not a single one of those people are now charged with anything. ... We're charged with felonies that could cost us four years of our lives and our law license."
The couple will enter a plea during their upcoming arraignment.