Ralph Yarl,the teenager shot by a homeowner in Kansas City,Missouri.Credit:AP
Demonstrators gathered at Lester’s single-storey house on a tree-lined street,shouting “Black lives are under attack” and “Stand up,fight back”,online videos showed. By Monday afternoon,black spray-paint on the side of the house showed a heart with “16” in the middle. Eggs splattered the front windows and the door.
“No child should ever live in fear of being shot for ringing the wrong doorbell,” US Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted in response to the shooting.
Earlier,the family’s lawyer Ben Crump demanded the homeowner be arrested and charged with attempted murder of the teenager described by his school district as an “excellent student and talented musician”.
Crump has represented families of black people killed by white police officers or others,such asGeorge Floyd,Breonna Taylor andTrayvon Martin.
The talented musician stumbled to two houses before anyone helped him.Credit:AP
Missouri has a “stand-your-ground law” that allows homeowners to use physical force to defend themselves against suspected intruders.
The law says a person cannot use deadly force unless they reasonably believe it is necessary to protect themselves or another person against death or serious physical injury,or a possible felony.
“These laws breed a society of violence and fear while providing cover for those who harm,maim and kill others,” state representative Marlene Terry,a St Louis Democrat who chairs the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus,said in a statement.
The shooting happened in a middle-class neighbourhood. Yarl was sent to pick up his twin younger brothers. He didn’t have a phone with him and went to the wrong block,his aunt,Faith Spoonmore,wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to help pay medical bills. By Monday afternoon,$US1.4 million ($2 million) had been raised from 37,000 donations.
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Yarl is a bass clarinettist who played several instruments in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Kansas City,Spoonmore wrote.
A statement from the North Kansas City School District described him as “an excellent student and talented musician. He maintains a stellar GPA (grade point average) while taking mostly college-level courses. While he loves science and hopes to pursue that career path,his passion is music”.
The Missouri Senate held a moment of silence for Yarl on Monday. “We pray for justice,” Democratic Senator Lauren Arthur said.
Bernice King,daughter of Martin Luther King jnr,wrote on Twitter that “the man who did this should be charged AND we need to work for the legislative and heart change to prevent these tragedies.”
Crump said Yarl was “like the child you would want to call your own”.
AP,Reuters
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