The world’s eyes are on Kansas City. Police can’t get the Ralph Yarl shooting wrong | Opinion
After being shot two times, once in the head, teenage Kansas City shooting victim Ralph Yarl is at home and recovering. For that, we should be thankful above all.
The man who allegedly shot the 16-year-old Staley High School student was taken into custody for 24 hours following the assault, but released. Until Kansas City Police Department investigators present a case file to Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson, the man will remain free, Thompson told us Monday.
Thompson let us know he will be on the case — as soon as he is presented one by police. We will see if he handles this case in a fair and impartial manner.
Forget the excuses offered up by new Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves. Her explanations about the shooting and why the man wasn’t arrested don’t add up. And the longer authorities play coy about why the alleged shooter is free, the situation could worsen.
For a case file to be completed and submitted to prosecutors, law enforcement officials need a formal victim statement, forensic evidence and other information, the chief said. Because of Ralph’s condition, police weren’t able to talk to him about the shooting before Monday, they claim.
Why would police need a victim statement? What if Ralph had died, or was further incapacitated and unable to communicate? A firearm the man allegedly used was recovered, police said.
Kansas City’s relationship with its police department needs healing. Law enforcement seeming to slow-walk the investigation of a man who allegedly shot an innocent Black child does little to repair an already tenuous partnership.
Ralph was shot for ringing the wrong doorbell, according to his family. And the shooter wasn’t immediately charged with a crime? That is almost unheard of. No wonder the story is blowing up in social media. Now, the international spotlight is on our city — for all the wrong reasons.
Police have not suggested that the family’s version of what occurred in the 1100 block of 115th Street in the Northland isn’t true.
We question why it took Graves and Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas three days to address the shooting and its aftermath.
Activists and community leaders are outraged, as they should be. How could a man shoot a child for mistakenly ringing his doorbell and not face immediate legal ramifications? Prosecutors build cases as more evidence becomes available. That should not preclude or delay charges. Why wait?
Waiting on the victim to speak to police before making an arrest is not how the criminal justice system works, said Natasha Scruggs, a Kansas City criminal defense attorney with no ties to the case.
“Probable cause is all you need,” Scruggs told us. “Even if it isn’t attempted murder, there is plenty of probable cause in this case that a crime occurred.”
The public has a right to know if investigators gave the alleged shooter a pass because he is elderly and white, as activists and civil rights attorneys such as Lee Merritt and Ben Crump suggest?
Police have not identified the shooter’s ethnicity, but property records indicate the homeowner is white, The Star reports. Race, in this case, cannot be ignored.
For decades, this police department has routinely disregarded Black lives and driven a chasm between the agency and the Black community. In a time when accountability is needed more than ever, Graves had an opportunity to make a solid first impression as a new chief.
Instead, the public was fed excuses.
Celebrities Halle Berry and Viola Davis have highlighted the shooting, as have other Hollywood stars such as Jennifer Hudson. The NFL Draft is set to begin soon, and now we have reason to worry this injustice will upstage what should be a celebration for Kansas City.
“I was a Ralph. We were all Ralph,” The Roots’ Questlove wrote on Facebook Sunday. The music producer and musician spoke for us all.
Later Sunday, hundreds of protesters marched through the Clay County neighborhood where the shooting took place.
The shooting wasn’t justified, activists said. If we believe the family — and we see no reason not to — the alleged shooter wasn’t even close to qualifying for self-defense under Missouri’s misguided “Stand Your Ground” law. Ralph is a child.
A kid was shot twice by a gun-wielding homeowner. And as of Monday, the man had not been held to account for his actions.
Is that justice? We think not.
