Gun-toting US couple charged

A US couple who became internet-infamous for drawing an assault rifle and a handgun on protesters outside their Missouri mansion have been charged with a felony.

In a viral video, Mark McCloskey and his wife Patricia McCloskey, both lawyers, stand barefoot in their garden in St Louis on June 28 as anti-racism protesters marched down a private street to demonstrate in front of the mayor's house.

McCloskey, 63, carried an assault rifle, and his wife, 61, was waving a handgun.

"It is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner at those participating in nonviolent protest," the attorney for St Louis, Kimberly Gardner, said.

She added that she was open to letting the couple participate in one of the diversion programs of the circuit attorney's office, which are "designed to reduce unnecessary involvement with the courts."

"We must protect the right to peacefully protest, and any attempt to chill it through intimidation will not be tolerated," Gardner said.

Missouri governor Mike Parson, a Republican, said last week he would likely pardon the McCloskeys if they were charged.