The mob that broke down a gate in an upscale St. Louis community and threatened its residents got a slap on the wrist, recently, while a couple who walked outside their home with legally registered firearms face serious charges.

Last week, nine Black Lives Matter protesters were emailed citations for trespassing, according to St. Louis City Counselor Julian Bush. Fox News reported that Bush has “not yet determined whether to file charges” against the rioters who broke into a gated community.

BLM activist Ohun Ashe was incensed by the summons and couldn’t wait to vent her outrage on Twitter: “Whew for the folks that cant comprehend, this isn’t an admittance to trespassing or validating the McCloskey’s [sic] story. It’s a comparison of walking down a street vs. threatening folks with a deadly weapon and policing. Police didn’t send the McCloskey’s [sic] citations but sent us them.” Then Ashe doubled down with “I had a gun waved in my face by them but trespassing is what matters?”

The ordinance violation could result in jail time of up to 90 days and $500 in fines at most. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, homeowners Mark and Patricia McCloskey had the proverbial book thrown at them by circuit attorney Kimberly Gardner. The McCloskeys’ Class E felony could mean up to four years in the slammer.

Talk about Topsy-Turvy

Reasonable people might wonder just what the heck is going on here. It is vital to remember that the McCloskeys fired no shots. However, even if they had discharged their weapons, isn’t it logical to assume they were outside with firearms to defend themselves?

Does an American citizen no longer have the right to protect his or her home and family?

Circuit attorney Gardner characterized the event around the McCloskey home as a “peaceful, unarmed” protest. However, this belies credulity based on video of the incident that shows somewhere in the vicinity of 300 angry people ripping through a metal gate.

Adding insult to this entire farce is government confiscation of the couple’s firearms. You heard that right – they were taken away so that the McCloskeys are left to defend themselves with what? Should they run to the kitchen for a chef’s knife, the game room for a baseball bat, or make like the citizens of Brussels, who are left to defend themselves with umbrellas or “grandma’s sharpest diamond so you can slash an intruder?”

Why have the ability to rightfully defend yourself from a mob standing outside your home when the police are God knows how many minutes away —  that is if they come at all in this era of “defund the police.”

It is unlikely the McCloskeys will see any jail time. Governor Mike Parson has signaled that if they were convicted, he would pardon the couple. Still, this event should be an open and shut case of a citizen’s right to self- defense instead of a politically charged hot potato. Such as it is gun rights have become the third rail of American politics that even the Supreme Court fears touching. When you come down to the essence of this debacle, one can see that it is riven with opportunities for the miscarriage of justice. Perhaps what one person tweeted on Ms. Ashe’s Twitter simplifies the story best: “Keep off of someone’s property is the lesson. Race has nothing to do with it.”

Indeed, everything does not come down to the issue of race, and if this does not represent a textbook case of violating law-abiding American citizens’ right to bear arms, then nothing does.

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Read more from Leesa K. Donner.