Mark and Patricia McCloskey are two people who attained national attention during the Covid era and the Black Lives Matter uprisings across the nation. These two, both in their 60s, were seen by the nation standing with firearms in their front yard protecting their home and assets from BLM protesters who had reportedly broken an iron gate, ignored trespassing warning signs and entered a private community where they lived. were charged in 2020 after BLM protesters broke down an iron gate and ignored a “No Trespassing” sign on their private street.
This event has been a topic of discussion in Tennessee since it occurred. Many, indeed most Tennesseans, are unaware that you cannot use deadly force, which includes brandishing a firearm, to protect your home, your business, or your “stuff”. You cannot in Tennessee brandish a weapon to discourage or stop trespassers. You cannot in Tennessee brandish a weapon to stop looters – such as what happened in Nashville when Mayor John Cooper welcomed another BLM protest mob that resulted in burning the historic courthouse and looting downtown Nashville. You cannot in Tennessee brandish a weapon to make a citizen’s arrest.
Notwithstanding Tennessee’s laws which provide a means for rioters, looters, arsonists, thieves and thugs to trespass, destroy and steal your property, damage your home, destroy your business and take your “stuff” – Tennessee law at present pretty much forces a victim in these property crimes to just be a victim. It is an outrage that this is the case in Tennessee but it is the case here.
So what happened to the McCluskies who were the victims of a violent, property destroying mob who did nothing more than stand on their own property and defend it? Now, they have criminal records! What is worse, is that the rioters and trespassers in the BLM mob were not arrested or convicted of their crimes.
According to news reports, both of the McCluskies now have pled to misdemeanor criminal charges and forfeited their firearms. They now have criminal records. They – the victims – have had their property taken from them to be destroyed. Many in the nation and certainly many in Tennessee would claim to do likewise but are they aware that their actions are against the law and in fact may result in them being charged and convicted as violent criminals?
Tennessee law on this issue needs to be addressed and changed. Clearly, the Tennessee legislature was aware of this problem since the charges were filed in 2020 – long before the 2021 legislative session started but the GOP super majority in Tennessee did nothing to protect Tennesseans.
If you think you do or should have the right to defend your home, your business, your assets and your life’s work from mobs, rioters, looters, thieves and thugs it is important that you let your legislators know that this needs to be addressed in Tennessee as soon as they come back into session.
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