Missouri Governor Mike Parson has for the first time publicly chimed in on the shooting of Ralph Yarl, nearly one week after the 16-year-old Black youth was shot and hospitalized after knocking on the wrong door in Kansas City.
Andrew Lester, 84, owns the home where Yarl reportedly approached the wrong address while attempting to pick up his younger brothers. Lester said he was "scared to death" of a home invasion.
The homeowner was subsequently charged with two felony counts—assault in the first degree and armed criminal action—for shooting Yarl in what he has said was self-defense.
Clay County prosecuting attorney Zachary Thompson said there was a "racial component" to the shooting. The Associated Press reported Wednesday afternoon that Lester has pleaded not guilty.
"I don't want some 16-year-old kid to be getting shot because he went to the wrong house—we just don't want those kinds of things to happen. It's a tragedy," Parson, a Republican, told The Kansas City Star at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City on Wednesday. "When the president of the United States is trying to make a political statement over a very serious tragedy, it is very unfortunate and I don't agree with trying to make political points out of terrible—I've never done that since I've been governor."
After adding that no parent should have to worry about their children being shot, and that more has to be done to combat escalating gun violence in America, Parsons said "young men and women get killed in St. Louis and Kansas City every day" but don't receive personal correspondence from President Joe Biden.
Following protests over the weekend in Yarl's honor, Biden called the teen and spoke with his family on Monday—offering them a visit to the White House.
"No parent should have to worry that their kid will be shot after ringing the wrong doorbell," Biden wrote in a tweet published Tuesday. "We've got to keep up the fight against gun violence. And Ralph, we'll see you in the Oval once you feel better."
Biden's response has drawn criticism, including from conservative commentators like Fox News' Tucker Carlson—who accused the Biden administration of using Yarl's case to "further divide the country along racial lines" due to ignoring a similar shooting from relatively the same time period as Yarl's.
Kaylin Gillis, 20, of Schuylerville, New York, was in a car with three friends Saturday night when they also pulled up in the driveway of the wrong address in the rural town of Hebron, New York.
The homeowner, 65-year-old Kevin Monahan, is accused of firing two gunshots from his porch, police said, one of which hit a white passenger, Gillis. She later died at the scene. Monahan was charged with second-degree murder.
The Biden administration has not publicly commented on the Gillis shooting.
Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email for comment.
Full Parson comments posted on Twitter by Star reporter Kacen Bayless indicate that Parson seemed reticent to even comment on the Yarl shooting, saying that he normally doesn't weigh in on most statewide shootings.
"Everybody's doing the job that should have been done, and justice should be served—whatever that is," said Parson, a former county sheriff. "So, for me to comment just because of the one situation versus all the other killings that are happening in Kansas City or St. Louis, you know, and we try to politicize this? It's very unfortunate."
Cleo Nagbe, Yarl's mother, said Tuesday on CBS Mornings that her son is recovering at home and "surrounded by a team of medical professionals." She added he likely will have lasting effects from his injuries "for quite a while."
Newsweek has reached out Parson's office via email for comment.
Kris Brown, president of Brady—a national gun violence prevention group—told Newsweek via email that Parson is right in the sense that young men and women are killed by gun violence every day.
"But that is a uniquely American tragedy that too many lawmakers like Governor Parson refuse to adequately address," Brown said. "Gun violence is the No. 1 killer of all American children because too many of our lawmakers are overly concerned about political optics with their voter base or are too indebted to the gun industry.
"Demanding our lawmakers act and stop innocent children from being gunned down is not a 'political statement,' it is a movement—a movement that we will win."
Peter Amber, executive director of gun control advocacy organization GIFFORDS, told Newsweek via email, "President Biden is doing what every elected leader should be doing in this country: fighting for safer gun laws. Missouri has some of the weakest gun laws in the country and some of the highest gun death rates. And Governor Parson has done nothing to address this epidemic in his state."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Nick Mordowanec is a Newsweek reporter based in Michigan. His focus is reporting on Ukraine and Russia, along with social ... Read more
