Causes.com
| 4.18.23
Kansas City Man Charged in Shooting Black Teen, Ralph Yarl
Demand your representatives take action on gun reform now.
What's the story?
- Last Thursday, 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot when he was trying to pick up his two younger twin brothers but got the address wrong in Kansas City, Missouri. Yarl accidentally knocked on 84-year-old Andrew Lester's door, who then shot the Black teen twice — once in the head and once in the arm.
- Yarl's father said his son was released from the hospital Sunday evening. He is expected to make a full recovery.
- The prosecutor, Zachary Thompson, said it was evident that the teen did not "cross the threshold" into Lester's home. The gunshots were fired through a glass door, and there was no indication that "any words were exchanged."
Charges against Lester
- Lester, who is white, was taken into custody by police and was released without charges on Friday. On Monday, after protests and anger spread throughout the community, Lester was then charged with assault in the first degree, a class-A felony, and could face life in prison. He was also charged with armed criminal action, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
- Thompson added what many know to be true:
"There was a racial component to the case."
- Lester is still not in police custody, but a warrant has since been issued for his arrest, and bail has been set at $200,000.
- S. Lee Merritt, one of the Yarl family's lawyers, was asked whether Lester's age played a role in the case. Merritt answered:
"The fact that he's 84 years old will be a consideration in terms of what he thought. But I'll remind you the former president and current president of the United States is about that age as well."
What are they saying?
- The White House reported that President Biden spoke to Yarl on the phone and "shared his hope for a swift recovery."
- Mayor Quinton Lucas of Kansas City, who is also Black, said he is angry and heartbroken about the situation. He continued:
"You've heard about driving while Black. You've heard about all the other issues that Black people confront in life. Can you not knock on the door while Black? It's almost like you can't exist."
- Merritt and Ben Crump, another lawyer representing Yarl, released a statement calling for the end of gun violence against unarmed Black children and adults. The statement read:
"Our children should feel safe, not as though they are being hunted. While this is certainly a step in the right direction, we will continue to fight for Ralph while he works toward a full recovery."
Similar circumstances: Gun violence over minor mistakes
- Just a few days after Yarl was hospitalized, a 20-year-old white woman was shot to death after pulling into the wrong driveway in upstate New York.
- Kaylin Gillis and three friends were looking for another friend's house when they mistakenly turned their car into the wrong driveway. As they were leaving the property, Kevin Monahan came out of his residence and fired two shots at the vehicle, one of which hit Gillis.
- Monahan, a white man who was initially uncooperative and refused to exit his home when police arrived, has been charged with murder in the second degree and is in custody at Warren County Jail.
- After Yarl and Gillis, two young people, were met with gunshots for making inconsequential, harmless mistakes just days apart, gun control activists are demanding justice and urging U.S. leaders to pass gun reform now.
Demand your representatives take action on gun reform now.
-Jamie Epstein
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Why Hasn't Child Services Gotten Involved Yet?
South Dakota governor says her two-year-old grandchild has several guns | US gun control | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/15/south-dakota-governor-kristi-noem-grandchild-guns-nra.
What the....
On Google maps you can see the house on Street where the Yarls cased the old mans house on Terrace st, The mother sent her kid to rob the old guy, The mother did not know where her two kids were at? Hogwash.
1. Vote out the Office Holding Right Wing Extremists.
2. Vote in reasonable Gun Rights Regulation.
3. Reformulate or Eliminate "Stand Your Ground" Laws.
For years now progressives warned cases like this: a totally baseless shooting of black teen by an 80-something man in a very dubious mental state. The reporting is that the man believed he was the subject of a home invasion, in fact the teen merely went to the wrong door to colllect his siblings.
I understand that in this day and age some people can be fearful for their safety. But since when did we become a "shoot first - ask questions later" society? Have we lost all sense of civilty and common sense? Do we have to resolve every disagreeable situation with a gun instead of "conflict resolution"? If guns were not so easily accessible by every "nutcase" around, maybe people would not be inclined to "leap before they look."
Asa Hutchinson believes that the problem of "too many shootings" is a result of mental illness and that we need more treatment or more people institutionalized. While that may a part of the problem and should be addressed, it certainly is NOT a solution to the problem. As it is, we don't have enough trained professionals to cope with the already high incidence of health issues due to drug use, job loss, etc. And now he wants to have someone decide if someone else is contemplating committing a mass murder! Seriously!
Military style weapons (semi-automatic and automatic assault weapns) have NO place in the hands of ordinary citiizens! They serve NO purpose! And gun purchasers should be evaluated, licensed and registered, trained and taught safety proceedures JUST LIKE people applying for a drivers license. This is common sense!
We have lost our minds in this country! And every other civilized country in the world knows it!
Not of the MENTAL ABILITY to be "responsible gun owners". CCW train is vital..even for the safety of the gun owner. -And refreshers.
A lot would be solved with RED FLAG LAWS and restoring the assault weapons ban. But not everything will be rosy. No...that's not going to happened until all the HATRED and FEAR rhetoric is squelched.
Except for SUDAN and other mid-east countries in CONSTANT CONFLICT, of the so-called "civilised" nations Ameria is the WORST place in violence and gun murders. It's the #1 cause of death of C-H-I-L-D-R-E-N!!!
A young woman was murdered for turning into the wrong driveway, this kid rang the door bell. Are we suppoosed to accept that being a UPS delivery person, or delivering mail or pizza we should EXPECT to be shot???
THIS IS INSANITY.
The DEPLORABLE GOP in the Capitol do <i><b>nothing</b></i> but fill their pockets.
He wont be robbing anybody for awhile
We've become a country of :Shoot first and ask questions later". I can understand an elderly person being alarmed when someone knocks on the door after dark, but to come out with guns blazing is totally over the top. It's way past time for gun control.
Yeah, very sad a mistake was made. Not a need for more gun control. I do believe however in CCW training and a refresher every 36 months.
The left / Democrats are not pushing gun control or anything beneficial to this country. NO ONE wants to be a Canada.
All I can say, this is the worse case of murder. If this man was afraid, his door was locked, then he was safe. He had a weapon was in a secure area. Once he opened the door with his weapon, he intended to kill someone. He was no longer fearing for his life. This was intentional murder. Guilty with a shadow of doubt.
The gun was an instrument. The man did the killing. That's what needs to be addressed. Everyone jumps on the gun bandwagon because the don't know how to solve the root cause which is the state of mind of the person committing the act. Sure murder was committed here and this person needs to be punished bit if you don'y figure out how to deal with root cause it will happen again & again. We'll have this same conversation 100 years form now no matter what laws are passed. How many people reading this break the speed limit laws?
This is yet another aspect of our runaway gun culture in this country. An old man (who has heard on Fox "News" that crime is rampant and he should be terrified of young Black men? guessing that part) just immediately picks up a gun and shoots a teen without even asking who he is or why he's there.
It's pretty obvious that this old man should not be allowed to have a gun, and that shooting first and asking questions later is not ok, especially when it endangers the life of a child.
But hey, only fetuses have rights in red states, so we shouldn't be surprised at all. Guns are always first priority.
You have more gun rights than women have!