The St. Louis couple, who gained national attention even before they were featured last week at the Republican National Convention, had their first court appearance before Associate Circuit Judge Craig Higgins.

The McCloskeys were charged with one felony count each of unlawful use of a weapon — exhibiting.

Their hearings Monday were postponed until Oct. 6. The cases are expected to be heard by a St. Louis grand jury that will decide whether there is sufficient probable cause for an indictment. Most cases in St. Louis Circuit Court go to a grand jury instead of a preliminary hearing.

Charging documents state that Mark McCloskey, 63, pointed an AR-15 rifle at protesters and Patricia McCloskey, 61, wielded a semiautomatic handgun, placing protesters in fear of injury, authorities have said.

Charges said investigators conducted “numerous” witness interviews and relied on video footage and the McCloskeys’ own statements about the June 28 incident.

— St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Thousands call for Chadwick Boseman statue to replace Confederate monument in SC

RALEIGH, N.C. — Thousands of people want a statue of the late actor Chadwick Boseman to replace a Confederate monument in his South Carolina hometown.

At least two Change.org petitions support tributes to Boseman. One that calls for a statue had more than 3,900 signatures as of Monday morning, and another that calls for a memorial garnered more than 9,700 signatures.

The calls for change come after the death of Boseman, a Black actor who starred in “Black Panther” and other recent movies. He had colon cancer for four years before he died at age 43, his official Twitter account announced Friday.

Boseman was born and raised in Anderson, South Carolina, roughly 30 miles southwest of Greenville. There, he rented out a theater to screen “Black Panther” at no cost, one of the petitions said.

“This film, along with his entire body of work, has uplifted and inspired many Black Americans especially during the turbulent times our nation is going through,” the organizer wrote on Change.org.

In the same South Carolina city, a statue of a Confederate soldier has stood in front of the Anderson County Courthouse for more than a century, news outlets reported.

The Confederate statue has been a point of renewed contention in recent weeks.

— The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)

After missing document deadline, postmaster general faces subpoena by House Oversight

WASHINGTON — House Oversight and Reform Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney announced Monday she will subpoena Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to get documents that were to be provided last week regarding a slowdown in mail delivery.

The announcement came a week after DeJoy testified before the committee that delivery times were improving after disruptions caused by temporary restructuring.

That hearing got heated at times as Democrats demanded answers from DeJoy, a Trump megadonor and logistics executive. Maloney gave him an ultimatum, saying that she would issue subpoenas if no documents were produced by Aug. 26.

Two days after that deadline, DeJoy sent a letter Friday saying his staff is “working with the oversight committee to identify and provide materials requested during the hearing.” The letter did not say when the documents would be released.

“DeJoy has not produced a single additional document since the House and Senate hearings were held,” the committee said in a news release Monday.

Maloney described the request, which covers such topics as delivery delays, sorting machines and overtime, in her Monday memorandum to members informing them of the subpoena. The subpoena is expected to be issued Wednesday.

India is becoming the world’s new virus epicenter

India is fast becoming the world’s new virus epicenter, setting a record for the biggest single-day rise in cases as experts predict that it’ll soon pass Brazil — and ultimately the U.S. — as the worst outbreak globally.

As many as 78,512 new cases were added Monday taking the total tally to over 3.6 million. On Sunday, India reported the highest ever one-day surge among all major countries. With 971 reported deaths, the Asian country pushed past Mexico for the third-highest number of deaths worldwide.

And unlike the U.S. and Brazil, India’s case growth is still accelerating seven months after the reporting of its first coronavirus case on Jan. 30. The pathogen has only just penetrated the vast rural hinterland where the bulk of its 1.3 billion population lives, after racing through its dense mega-cities.

As the world’s second most-populous country, and one with a relatively poor public health system, it’s inevitable that India’s outbreak becomes the world’s biggest, said Naman Shah, an adjunct faculty member at the country’s National Institute of Epidemiology.

With more than 500 homicides, Chicago on track for one of the most violent years in decades

CHICAGO — Barely a month into his job as Chicago’s top cop, David Brown described his “moonshot”: a year when there would be fewer than 300 homicides in the city.

When Brown took the podium Monday for his usual news conference on weekend violence, the city had recorded more than 500 homicides this year, putting it on pace with 2016 when Chicago was hit with a spike of violence not seen in decades.

Brown, now more than four months into his tenure, did not mention the grim milestone while talking to reporters. He also did not dwell on the toll from the weekend: at least 10 people killed and 40 others wounded by gun violence that included a mass shooting at a pancake house on the Far Southwest Side. A man died and four others were wounded as diners with children scattered.

In a little more than three hours beginning around 2 a.m. Sunday, Chicago police responded to 10 separate shootings, including three homicides and an attack on two officers who exchanged gunfire with an armed teen. All three were wounded.

Brown said 51 Chicago police officers have been shot at this year and 10 of them have been hit. Asked if cops were being targeted, Brown replied, “I think there’s more than a suggestion that people are seeking to do harm to cops.”

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