White Guy Shoots Black Kid In The Head Because He Rang His Doorbell. This Is America.

He also shot him in the back. Kid must've rang the doorbell more than once.

What you're about to read is true, but you'll still struggle to believe it.

Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old Black kid, had gone to pick up his younger siblings from a friend's house in North Kansas City, Missouri. He was supposed to go to a home on Northwest 115th Terrace, but he mistakenly went to a house one block over. When he rang the doorbell, the white man who lived there reportedly shot the teenager in the head through the glass door and then shot him again, in the back, perhaps for the crime of bleeding out on his front lawn.

Yarl's aunt, Dr. Faith Spoonmore, claims that he ran for help but it took three different houses before anyone bothered — fortunately, he wasn't shot three more times. The person who eventually came to Yarl's aid nonetheless demanded that the seriously injured teenager lie on the ground with his hands up.

“A massive crowd has amassed in front of the white man's home who attempted to murder 16 year old Black boy Ralph Yarl in Kansas City Missouri”

— The Kansas City Defender (@The Kansas City Defender) 1681679130 

This was not self-defense. It was attempted murder. There's no evidence that Yarl had intended to prank the homeowner with "ding-dong ditch" or, worse, try to sell him a Grit newspaper subscription, but neither act is a capital offense.

During the summer of 1996, I canvassed for the Sierra Club. I rang strangers' door bells. Once in suburban New Jersey, I heard an old lady in the house shouting to the old lady behind the front door, "Who is it?" She yelled back, "I don't know ... it's a BLACK PERSON!"

Fortunately, they weren't armed so I was able to survive until the next house. I was not a better kid than Ralph Yarl. I doubt I looked like less of a potential threat.

 According to Dr. Spoonmore, Yarl attended the Missouri Scholars Academy, a program for the state's most high-achieving high school juniors. He plays multiple instruments in the Northland Symphony Youth Orchestra and is a leader in his school's marching band. He's a honor’s student who wants to attend Princeton. 

Of course, the gunman didn't see any of that. He only saw a Black kid and that was sufficiently dangerous.

“Dr. Faith Spoonmore is the aunt of Ralph Yarl. Please don’t scroll by and not listen! #ralphyarl”

— alexa, tell me a dad joke👨‍👧‍👦 1 to go 🦅 (@alexa, tell me a dad joke👨‍👧‍👦 1 to go 🦅) 1681673666 

The gunman was taken into custody but after providing a (likely self-serving) statement to the police, he was released pending further investigation. The guy shot a kid in the back . He should've been charged at the scene. Granted, our gun laws are repulsive and the shooter is white.

“The vast majority of cases to include violent crime involve the suspect being released pending further investigation,” Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said during a Sunday soft-shoe press conference. “In this case, the prosecutor requires more information from investigators that would take more than 24 hours to compile throughout the weekend.”

OK, I suppose if a Black person shot a white kid in the back because they rang the doorbell, the Kansas City Police would just let the guy go. We definitely wouldn't hear about this non-stop on Fox News, and Sen. Josh Hawley wouldn't give a speech on the Senate floor about "woke prosecutors" letting attempted murderers go free.

White people demand justice, sometimes at the end of a community rope. Black folks are just expected to wait. Right now, Yarl's family is waiting to see if he'll live through the week. If he does pull through, he'll face a long, challenging recovery from a direct shot in the head. Let's hope he'll someday play the clarinet again.

[ The Daily Beast / Kansas City Defender ]

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