St. Louis Couple Sues Journalist For Photo Of Them Brandishing Guns At BLM Protesters

A controversial couple indicted on weapons charges for brandishing guns at anti-racism protesters over the summer have sued the news photographer who captured the incident.

Mark and Patricia McCloskey have been charged with felony unlawful use of a firearm and tampering with evidence after waving an AR-15-style assault rifle and semiautomatic pistol at Black Lives Matter protesters from the front patio of their St. Louis home in June.

A photo of the incident went viral, and the McCloskeys have been widely defended by gun lovers who claim the couple were protecting their home. President Donald Trump , who has characterized BLM protesters as terrorists , has called the prosecution of the McCloskeys a disgrace. They were featured in a virtual Trump campaign event and were the headline speakers during the first night of the Republican National Convention.

The McCloskeys have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them, and claim they were defending themselves against trespassers.

The McCloskeys, who work together as personal injury lawyers , filed suit Friday in St. Louis Circuit Court against United Press International photographer Bill Greenblatt, who took a widely circulated photo of them waving firearms at passing BLM protesters. The suit accuses Greenblatt of trespassing to take the photo , which has contributed to their significant national recognition and infamy, the St. Louis Post Dispatch first reported .

The suit also accuses Greenblatt and UPI of profiting from t-shirts, masks, and other items, and licensing use of photographs bearing Plaintiffs likenesses, without obtaining Plaintiffs consent.

The McCloskeys are seeking damages and asking the court to bar the use of the photo and to transfer ownership of the photo to them.

Our little problem is insignificant in light of the attempted election theft, but we have brought suit against the UPI photog who stole our pictures, and Redbubble which is raking in the bucks selling our pictures on T shirts, etc., without permission!

Mark T. McCloskey (@Mark__McCloskey) November 8, 2020","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Mark T. McCloskey","author_url":"https://twitter.com/Mark__McCloskey","cache_age":86400,"description":"Our little problem is insignificant in light of the attempted election theft, but we have brought suit against the UPI photog who stole our pictures, and Redbubble which is raking in the bucks selling our pictures on T shirts, etc., without permission! Mark T. McCloskey (@Mark__McCloskey) November 8, 2020\n\n","options":{"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Mark T. 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Our little problem is insignificant in light of the attempted election theft, but we have brought suit against the UPI photog who stole our pictures, and Redbubble which is raking in the bucks selling our pictures on T shirts, etc., without permission!
Mark T. McCloskey (@Mark__McCloskey) November 8, 2020

The suit comes as UPI was considering a copyright infringement cease and desist order against the couple to stop them from using the photo on a series of bizarre holiday greeting cards they had printed, News Radio 1120 reported last week.

They got 1,000 of these printed and have even been signing them pic.twitter.com/LPAhR8IRAl

k h a l e a (@314khalea) September 21, 2020","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"k h a l e a","author_url":"https://twitter.com/314khalea","cache_age":86400,"description":"They got 1,000 of these printed and have even been signing them pic.twitter.com/LPAhR8IRAl k h a l e a (@314khalea) September 21, 2020\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_hide_thread":{"label":"Hide previous Tweet in conversation thread","value":true},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"k h a l e a on 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They got 1,000 of these printed and have even been signing them pic.twitter.com/LPAhR8IRAl
k h a l e a (@314khalea) September 21, 2020

Greenblatt told the news station that the McCloskeys never obtained permission to use the photo, and he sent an invoice to the couple for $1,500. I am in the business of selling images. I do not give them away for free, Greenblatt noted in the bill.

Mark McCloskey posted a copy of the invoice on his Facebook page, saying it made my day and claiming Greenblatt stole the image by taking the photograph.

The photographer that trespassed into my neighborhood and stole a photo of us has sent us a bill!!!!! he wrote. Now be nice and dont bother him, but what chutzpah.