KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Civil rights leaders, elected officials and activists on Tuesday banded together for a downtown Kansas City rally in support of Ralph Yarl, the Black 16-year-old whose shooting outside a Northland home has sparked national outrage and calls for reforms.
Standing across the street from the federal courthouse, Black leaders pointed to felony charges filed against an 84-year-old white homeowner as merely the first step toward justice in a broken, racist criminal justice system.
On top of the to-do list for organizers now is to convince federal authorities to conduct a separate criminal investigation of a hate crime, said Gwen Grant, president of Kansas City’s chapter of the Urban League.
Other steps, she said, include broader cultural and policy changes as state lawmakers have introduced other hardships disproportionately affecting Black Missourians in the form of lax gun laws and censorship of Black history in public education.
“Racial hatred, and implicit bias permeates our culture. And it impacts every aspect of Black lives,” Grant said.
“We are challenged just walking while Black, eating while Black, swimming while Black, living while Black. Driving while Black is a problem,” she said. “And now we can’t even walk up to someone’s door and ring a doorbell without fear of being hurt.”
Facing mounting public pressure locally and nationally, Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson on Monday announced two felony charges against Andrew D. Lester, the 84-year-old homeowner. He is accused of first-degree assault, a felony that carries the possibility of life imprisonment, and armed criminal action.
Although civil rights leaders expressed relief that criminal charges were actually filed — many questioned whether Missouri’s Stand Your Ground law would prevent that — other concerns remain unaddressed.
Those concerns include the length of time it took to bring charges, Lester’s release on bond for a serious violent felony charge, the release of Lester from police custody before a statement from Yarl was obtained and the general treatment of Yarl as a “suspect” instead of a victim.
Lee Merritt, a civil rights attorney representing the Yarl family, said the teenager was shot “because he was armed with nothing other than his black skin.”
“Is it a hate crime? Is it enough to shoot someone and the only thing that they’re armed with is the color of their skin? Should that qualify as a hate crime? We think so. But that kind of Missouri statute doesn’t exist,” Merritt added, saying that new legislation is needed to “protect blackness in this country because blackness is under attack.”
Merritt pointed to the pressure applied on Kansas City police, including a weekend protest outside Lester’s home, as forcing authorities to act. He said that had Lester been held longer than two hours in police custody following the shooting, they would have heard from “the kid with a bullet in his head.”
“They haven’t told the public the truth about why they didn’t make an arrest,” Merritt said. “They said they needed a little more due process, they needed a little more time. The truth is they never anticipated they would have to make an arrest.”
Shot ‘within a few seconds’
The shooting happened around 10 p.m. Thursday as Yarl was trying to pick up his younger brothers from a house on 115th Street. He mistakenly went there instead of 115th Terrace, the next street up, and rang the doorbell.
During a recorded interview, Lester admitted to police that he shot Yarl through the locked glass storm door to his home “within a few seconds” of seeing him on the doorstep and without warning. He accused the teen of trying to pull the door handle, and told police that he was “scared to death” and feared his home was being broken into.
Two hours after being booked on suspicion of aggravated assault, Lester was released from police custody. A Kansas City detective investigating the case wrote in a probable cause affidavit that the Clay County prosecutors believed further investigation was warranted before charges could be filed.
Yarl, 16, was interviewed by a Kansas City police detective on Friday in Children’s Mercy Hospital as he was still recovering from gunshot wounds to his forehead and arm. He told police he rang the doorbell to the house and was shot “immediately” after the stranger answered.
After falling to the ground, Yarl told police, he was shot a second time. He overheard the shooter say: “Don’t come around here,” according to court documents.
Three more days passed between Yarl’s statement to police, described as an informal interview, and the announcement of charges in Clay County. Over the weekend, Police Chief Stacey Graves said there were delays bringing charges in large part due to the fact that a formal victim statement had yet to be done — an explanation the family’s lawyers and other supporters have openly challenged.
Following the announcement of criminal charges, Lester remained out of custody through Tuesday morning. He surrendered at the Clay County jail and posted bond shortly after.
‘Could have been my son’
Rev. Vernon Howard, president of Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Kansas City, said ahead of Tuesday’s rally that there is “no denying” the racial component of the shooting.
He said Missouri is “one of the most unsafe places for Black people in America,” saying the shooting was an example where “Jim Crow came face to face with the beauty of blackness.”
“We firmly believe that an investigation of race and hate as a motivating factor in the shooting of Ralph Yarl must take place,” Howard said. “There is no denying the racial component of this shooting.”
Bishop Frank Douglas said the shooting represented a latest example of “American apartheid.” He added that “if it had been an 84-year old Black man that had done the same thing it’d have been lynching time.”
Nimrod Chapel, president of Missouri’s chapter of the NAACP, said the gathering Tuesday was about demanding better of the entire state.
“People like Lester have been killing us all along,” Chapel said, adding: “We have been suffering injustices like Lester’s all along. People might say it’s not his fault. He didn’t do it by himself. He’s just one man. He is a symptom of what’s going on in Missouri. We have got to change that.”
Several politicians also came in a show of support, including state Rep. Jamie Johnson, whose 12th House District covers part of the Northland in Platte County.
Johnson said she came as a representative but also as a mother of three. Her two youngest are boys, ages 12 and 19.
“This could have been my son,” Johnson said. “There are things that we need to do as the state body to rectify the prevalence of guns in our communities. There are things that we need to do to ensure that unsafe people do not have access to firearms.”
Kansas City Councilwoman Melissa Robinson, 3rd District, said her office had sent a letter on Tuesday seeking involvement from the Department of Justice. She said residents deserve answers to “tough questions about how this was investigated.”
“We will not stand by and allow the terror of Black people in our community,” Robinson said. “This is just the beginning. This is not the end.”
Rally for Ralph Yarl
On Tuesday, a crowd of roughly 150 came out in a show of support for Yarl, who returned home to his family on Sunday as he continues to recover from his injuries. Several held signs and called chants in Ilus Davis Park, across the street from the Charles E. Whittaker U.S. Courthouse.
Among those who attended was Nita Cole, 55, of Lenexa, who came with her daughter and three grandchildren. One of the biggest questions she still has about the case, she said, was how Lester was allowed bond for the serious felony charge where authorities deemed him a risk to the community.
Cole said she believes there would have never been a chance for an older Black man to be released had the roles been reversed.
“And it’s sad that it’s like that, but I believe that,” Cole said.
“It’s just sad that you can’t make a mistake,” she said of Yarl’s shooting. “You make a simple mistake and you get shot.”
Carolina Quintana and Tiffany Goodier came out after learning of Lester’s charges and arrest. They said they wanted to show support as the case continues.
“I think it’s just another occasion that we can’t let go without the opportunity to fight for justice,” Quintana said.
“We want to be able to be here and to say something and just let people know that it’s not OK. What happened is not OK. It can’t continue, and it shouldn’t continue,” Goodier added.
Dvante Lewis said he wanted to show support and spread awareness about deeper cultural issues.
“This is survival out here. This is going to lead to us surviving as a culture. So it means everything,” Lewis said.
____
(The Star’s Emily Curiel, Glenn E. Rice, Robert A. Cronkleton, Katie Moore, Sarah Ritter, Anna Spoerre and Luke Nozicka contributed to this report.)
____
