By now you know them. Mark and Patricia McCloskey became famous overnight three weeks ago when they exercised their Second Amendment right to defend themselves and their property against a menacing St. Louis mob. And yet today, the mob is free and the McCloskeys are facing a Kafkaesque nightmare of legal fees and possible prison time.

As the Washington Examiner reports, the McCloskeys “were charged with one felony count of unlawful use of a weapon after they brandished their weapons on the front steps of their home when a group of protesters broke down their fence and trespassed into their private neighborhood. The charges, which were filed by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner on Monday, carry a sentence of one to four years in prison and fines of up to $5,000.”

Let’s start with Kim Gardner. She’s a piece of work — a dimly lit legal mind who owes her very status to George Soros. “Gardner has been criticized by law enforcement for her decision not to charge rioters who were arrested during the George Floyd protests in June,” reports the Examiner. And, in keeping with the tenets of the Marxist view of social justice, “She declined to press charges against dozens who were arrested for assault, trespassing, vandalism, or unlawful use of a weapon.”

Indeed, the willfully derelict Gardner issued just two summons for the 36 arrests that took place in St. Louis that first week of June. No wonder “The Gateway to the West” has become such a hellhole of lawlessness.

“It’s a totally upside-down world,” lamented Mark McCloskey. “The people who broke into my neighborhood were all trespassing. The guy that recruited them, that planned this event, said the next day that he intended to break the law; that he needed to break laws in order to send his message. … The prosecutor, the circuit attorney, has apparently decided that her job as a prosecutor isn’t to keep us safe from the criminals, but to keep the criminals safe from us.”

Fortunately for the McCloskeys, Missouri is a red state, and their plight has attracted the attention of the state’s Republican governor, Mike Parson, and its attorney general, Eric Schmitt. “The right to keep and bear arms is given the highest level of protection in our constitution and our laws,” said Schmitt, “including the Castle Doctrine, which provides broad rights to Missourians who are protecting their property and lives from those who wish to do them harm. … As Missouri’s Chief law enforcement officer, I won’t stand by while Missouri law is being ignored.”

Gardner, the one doing the ignoring, is up for reelection. And Power Line’s Paul Mirengoff lays out not only what’s at stake in St. Louis but for the future of law enforcement in urban centers across the nation: “The importance of this primary is highlighted by news that a George Soros-linked group has contributed $78,000 to Gardner’s campaign. This is part of Soros’ effort to undermine order in the U.S. by electing prosecutors who want to hamstring the police and go easy on criminals. His organization backed Gardner financially in 2016, and it’s doing so again this year.”

Mirengoff continues, “Gardner’s relatively brief tenure as St. Louis prosecutor has been a disaster for law and order. Prosecutors have left in droves. Gardner’s conviction rate in cases that go to trial is abysmal. And, not surprisingly, the homicide rate is soaring.”

Just imagine yourself in the McCloskeys’ shoes. But in a blue state. And if this is the reality for law-abiding Americans during a Donald Trump administration, just imagine what things will be like should the folks currently controlling Joe Biden come to power.

Every four years, we’re told that this next presidential election will be the most important in our nation’s history. From a Rule of Law perspective, those sounding the alarm today may well be right.