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“Gardner was elected in 2016 on a promise to redress the scourge of historical inequality and rebuild trust in the criminal justice system among communities of color,â€� alleged the lawsuit. “Unfortunately, entrenched interests in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½, including Defendants, have mobilized to thwart these efforts through a broad campaign of collusive conduct, including the unprecedented appointment of a white, ethically conflicted Special Prosecutor to investigate the activities of Gardner’s office.â€�

Since then Gardner has attracted ever more prominent political opponents, from Attorney General Eric Schmitt to Gov. Mike Parson, and even President Donald Trump, each of whom have tried and failed to turn her into a law-and-order doormat as they seek to use race to divide the state and the nation. The reason the president and his Republican enablers targeted Gardner has to do with her decision to charge Mark and Patricia McCloskey with one count each of felony unlawful use of a weapon, after the wealthy white ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ couple were caught on video waving firearms at protesters.

This week, the two anti-Gardner narratives merged.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John Ross dismissed Gardner’s federal lawsuit, describing it as a “conglomeration of unrelated claims and conclusory statements supported by very few facts, which do not plead any recognizable cause of action.� In other words, the various folks Gardner sued, may well be out to get her, but she hasn’t proved that they violated her civil rights.

The day before, the city counselor made a similar decision, deciding not to prosecute nine protesters, who had been issued a summons for trespassing from the night they walked by the McCloskeys’ house.

“After consideration of all factors, the city counselor determined that prosecution is not warranted against these particular individuals,� City Counselor Michael Garvin said in an emailed statement.

It’s about time, said Javad Khazaeli, an attorney who represents two of the protesters. For Khazaeli, there is a relationship between Gardner’s allegations that police and the city counselor’s office are out to get her and the trespassing allegations that have now been dropped. That’s because the very existence of the summonses sent to his clients has made it more difficult for Gardner to advance her case against the McCloskeys.

“They are clearly trying to undermine the duly elected prosecutor,� Khazaeli told me on Tuesday, just a couple of hours before the city declined to pursue charges against his clients. Those same clients, Khazaeli said, received a subpoena a couple of weeks ago to testify before the grand jury empaneled by Gardner to investigate the charges against the McCloskeys. They were witnesses, and potential victims, having been in the crowd at which the McCloskeys pointed their firearms as the protesters were headed to Mayor Lyda Krewson’s house.

His clients are more than willing to testify before the grand jury, Khazaeli says, but he couldn’t let them do so while they were facing a potential criminal charge related to the same act. When he realized his clients were potential grand jury witnesses, and also facing a possible municipal trespassing charge, Khazaeli called both the circuit attorney’s office and the city counselor’s office to explain his situation. He also conferred with ethics experts, who agreed with him that he couldn’t let his clients testify under the circumstances.

Gardner’s office agreed to delay his clients’ testimony, Khazaeli said. But the way he sees it, the trespassing summonses never should have been issued without city counselor approval, and they most definitely should have been dropped the moment the Portland Place trustees made it clear they didn’t want to see anybody prosecuted for walking on the neighborhood’s private street while heading to a protest at the mayor’s house.

It took a while, but the charges were dropped, and now Khazaeli’s clients can testify before the grand jury that is hearing the allegations against the McCloskeys.

Opponents of Gardner want to see those charges dropped, too, but they don’t get to make that call. That’s in the hands of a group of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ voters who will be the latest to weigh in on Gardner, the McCloskeys and differing views of what law and order really means.