President Joe Biden spoke Monday with Ralph Yarl, the Black teenager who was shot last week after ringing the wrong doorbell.
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden spoke Monday with Ralph Yarl, the Black teenager who was shot last week after ringing the wrong doorbell.
Biden told Yarl — who was hospitalized with life-threatening wounds but is now recuperating at home — that he hopes for a swift recovery, the White House said in a statement.
Earlier Monday, the prosecutor in Clay County, Missouri, announced charges of assault in the first degree and armed criminal action against Andrew Lester, the 84-year-old White Kansas City homeowner who allegedly shot the 16-year-old Yarl.
Ben Crump, one of the teenager’s lawyers, said on Twitter that he “was picking up his younger brothers when he mistakenly rang the doorbell at the wrong house. A man shot Ralph twice.”
Zachary Thompson, the county prosecutor, said at a televised press conference that “there was a racial component to the case,” but did not elaborate. He added that Lester fired through a glass door with a .32-caliber revolver.
The charges come after Lester was initially released from police custody following the episode, prompting protests from civil rights leaders and others. The case quickly garnered national attention, renewing debate over both racial and gun politics.
Earlier Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted that the administration was “fighting” for a nation where children were safe from gun violence.
Lee Merritt, another lawyer for Yarl, said in a statement Monday that the family was “cautiously optimistic about accountability and justice” in the case.
“We are relieved that charges are finally moving forward but are disappointed in the delay that necessitated national outcry for an obvious crime,” Merritt added.
The Kansas City Police Department referred a request for comment to the prosecutor’s office on Monday night. The prosecutor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Updates with prosecutor’s press conference, in fifth paragraph.)
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