Hawley calls Ralph Yarl shooting ‘terrible,’ blames rising crime in Missouri

Sen. Josh Hawley said on Tuesday that he found the shooting of a 16-year-old student in Kansas City “terrible” and tied it back to what he sees as a larger violence problem throughout the state of Missouri.

The shooting of Ralph Yarl, a Black high school student who rang the wrong doorbell when going to pick up his brothers and was shot once in the head and once in the arm, sparked national outcry amid a larger conversation about race relations and gun violence in the United States. Yarl’s alleged shooter, Andrew D. Lester, is an 84-year-old white man who owns the Northland home that the high schooler mistakenly approached.

Hawley, who served as the state’s attorney general before his election to the Senate, said he’s glad the prosecutor brought charges in the case. But he tied the crime to a larger problem with violence across the country.

“The violence in Kansas City, and really all over the state, and St. Louis and Springfield, I mean, it’s bad and it’s getting worse,” Hawley said. “But this is just horrific. People should be able to go to a door, or go to a bus stop, or whatever, and not fear for their lives.”

Lester allegedly told police that he believed Yarl was attempting to break in to his home and that he believed he was avoiding a physical confrontation, according to charging documents. Republicans, including Hawley, have made a point of emphasizing crime in cities, particularly in response to calls from some liberal activists to reduce funding to police forces over a lack of accountability.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat, said he believed the case touches on every major domestic problem in the country.

“We’ve got politics, we’ve got the issue of the laws that are being passed by state legislatures, ‘stand your ground,’ creating all kinds of opportunities for people to kill each other. And then the gun controversy,” Cleaver said.

“And race relations,” Cleaver added. “And this abnormal fear ‘Black guy on my porch, this is bad I gotta kill him, I gotta shoot him. is it’s something that I think we could write a textbook out of this issue after the trial.”

Hawley’s comments come a day after President Joe Biden spoke to Yarl, who left the hospital Monday and is recovering at home. Hawley said it was “good” that Biden called Yarl but said he hasn’t spoken to the high school student. Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican, said he had not called Yarl either.

Schmitt, who was also a former Missouri attorney general, said he would leave the case up to the Clay County prosecutor, who brought charges of first degree assault and armed criminal action against Lester.

“Well, I’m gonna let obviously that play out in the legal system,” Schmitt said. “I’m aware of it. I don’t know all of the facts. So I’ll leave that up to the prosecutor.”

Along with drawing national attention and local protests, the case has drawn attention to Missouri’s stand your ground law, which gives broad leeway to people who use guns in self defense.

Hawley said that while he isn’t certain about the details of the case, he would be surprised if the state’s “stand your ground” law would be enough of a defense for Lester.

“I’d be a little surprised if somebody who’s in daylight, not trying to gain entry, ringing a doorbell, no signs of menace, I’d be pretty surprised,” Hawley said. “He’s not actually in the house.”