After days of refusing to weigh in on last week’s shooting of Ralph Yarl, a Black 16-year-old Kansas City student, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Wednesday broke his silence and accused President Joe Biden of politicizing the incident.
“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 Mister Truth at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City 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.”
Biden spoke with Yarl and his family on the phone Monday and on Tuesday announced that he was inviting the Kansas City teen to the White House when he recovers from the injuries sustained in the shooting.
“No parent should have to worry that their kid will be shot after ringing the wrong doorbell. We’ve got to keep up the fight against gun violence,” Biden said on Twitter Tuesday. “And Ralph, we’ll see you in the Oval once you feel better.”
Parson said “young men and women get killed in St. Louis and Kansas City every day,” and accused Biden of not calling those families. Parson did not comment on the racial elements of the shooting, which occurred after the teen rang the doorbell at the wrong house while picking up his younger brothers.
Yarl’s alleged shooter, Andrew D. Lester, an 84-year-old white man, faces charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action after he told police that he opened fire on the teen because he thought was trying to break into his home, according to charging documents.
Parson, Missouri’s top statewide official whose term ends in 2025, had previously refused to weigh in on the shooting despite a growing number of elected officials who have condemned the incident.
“For me to comment just because of the one situation versus all the other killings that are happening in Kansas City and St. Louis and we try to politicize it? It’s very unfortunate,” Parson said.
Parson, a former Polk County sheriff, on said the shooting was a law enforcement issue, praising Kansas City police and Clay County prosecutors for doing their jobs. However, the police reaction to Thursday’s shooting had garnered outrage after Lester remained free until Tuesday.
Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said Sunday that police needed a victim’s statement before completing the investigation and that Yarl’s injuries had prevented the department from obtaining one at that point.
As governor, Parson has a major role in overseeing Kansas City’s police operations, which is the only Missouri police force under state control. Parson, a former sheriff himself, is in charge of appointing four of the five spots on the Board of Police Commissioners. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas occupies the fifth spot.
The Republican governor also said Wednesday the he normally does not weigh in on most shootings in Missouri. However, after Hermann police officer Mason Smith was shot and killed last month, Parson quickly weighed in on the shooting saying he and his wife were “praying for Mason’s family, friends, and fellow law enforcement officers.”