Andrew Lester, the 84-year-old white man who shot Ralph Yarl, a Black teenager in Kansas City, pleaded not guilty in his first court appearance Wednesday
Yarl was shot at point-blank range in the head butSome civil rights leaders and Yarl's family attorney, Lee Merritt, have urged prosecutors to charge Lester withClay County prosecutor Zachary Thompson said first-degree assault is a higher-level crime allowing a longer sentence than a hate-crime charge would, meaning up to life in prison. Though activists have called for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate, it was unclear whether it would do so.
The shooting happened about 10 p.m. Thursday. Police Chief Stacey Graves said that Yarl’s mother asked him to pick up his twin brothers at a home on 115th Terrace. No words were exchanged before the shooting, but afterward, as Yarl got up to run, he heard Lester yell, “Don’t come around here,” the statement said.“The question is, at 5-8 and 140 pounds, what did Andrew Lester look out and see?” Merritt asked at a downtown rally Tuesday. “And the answer is he saw a Black person. And for him, that was enough justification. And that would just be a tragedy except law enforcement agreed with him.
“No parent should have to worry that their kid will be shot after ringing the wrong doorbell,” Biden tweeted. “We’ve got to keep up the fight against gun violence.”
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