Ralph Yarl Shooting

[BombasticSideEye]

I have not stopped thinking about this case since I read about it yesterday. Miraculous that he survived but how utterly heartbreaking and traumatic for him and his family. There is little point in even mentioning gun control in America because I don't see anything changing for quite some time in that respect, If mass shootings in schools don't instigate change then nothing will.
This poor kid was shot twice despite posing no threat whatsoever. I can't get my head around it

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/17/black-kansas-city-teen-shot-wrong-address

Unbefuckinglievable that the gunman was initially released without charge.

I'm pleased to see the NY gunman has been charged with 2nd degree murder.

@bibbitybobbityyhat yep. I know plenty of 86 year olds and staring the obvious, the personality of the younger person is still in there.

So I hope his age is not used as part of his defence. For all we know he might have always been an aggressive, racist, gun-wielding bastard. And let’s face it probably is, was.

Poor little Ralph.

It's terrible, I've been seeing about this case, the homeowner absolutely should be charged. Im glad he's out of hospital but he only is as his family are medical professionals. America is out of control with its gun laws. And it's racism.

I think the shooter should sell his home and pay for Ralph's rehabilitation and university fees.

@Kittykatchunjy it is tragic but it's not pedantic. It's the adultification of black children (and rascism) that bring about tragedies like this.

If the shooter saw a child running errands for his mum and not a "man" the outcome would be different.

I say this as a black woman raising black children. Specification is key to keeping our kids safe and alive.

I totally agree with you though, it's why I put teenagers in my original post. I'm white but find it so upsetting seeing this happen on such a regular basis, I cannot imagine how it must feel for you. All those photos on our TV screens almost daily, it's heartbreaking.

@Imgladispentitwithyou .

Thank you for appreciating the nuance and not taking my correction as an attack.

I'm devastated that Ralph, his mum and his family are going through this. I imagine the horror of this happening to my black DC. Society need to see our (black) kids for the kids they are and not use adults to describe them.

He's 16. That's hardly 'a man'.

Oh go away 🙄

I've just seen a clip of an interview with the grandson of the man who shot Ralph. He was pretty clear about his grandfather having warped views and "racist tendencies".

@Crazyshihtzulady yes kaylin Gillis does matter and that's why her murderer was immediately arrested and charged with 2nd degree murder. Unlike Ralph's attempted murderer

But it's clear you want a bun fight and don't care about either.

16 is a school aged child. Can't vote, can't legally drink (in America), can't join the army, not even old enough to graduate. Ralph is a minor who was shot in the head by a racist old man. He's a child who after experiencing the most heinous of crimes had the God given good luck to have the energy to walk to 3 neighbors houses before someone helped get him to hospital,

You @Crazyshihtzulady are a terrible human and a disgrace to humanity but I hope you or your children never have to experience what Ralph did. If you are unlucky enough to be targeted and shot in the head may you find someone more caring than yourself to help you

Does anyone know of there is a legitimate fund raiser for him? I'm worried about their medical bills and his future needs. I don't often care very much for random strangers and their stories to want to seek a way to engage but this is just one of those 'can't scroll past' events.

Ok just googled newspapers. It's reached $3million , amazing. Will stick chuck a tenner in, but some light against this awful story.

Gun violence is endemic in America, teenagers at parties, schools, car parks are being shot at. Fuck the NRA and the right to bear arms, I'm so angry reading the news, how many lives need to be lost or irrevocably harmed by gun wielding racists, vigilantes and murderers.

Give easy access to guns to bigots and paranoids, and innocent people die. Ralph was just a kid picking up his younger siblings. And does anyone really think he's have been shot like that if he was white?

Good god - he was shot in the head and chest. The shooter was trying to kill him, I just can't fathom it. Just unbelievably awful. Poor poor boy.

Today reading news online I’ve also seen a woman being shot for accidentally opening the wrong car door and a 6 year old and her father being shot at after their basketball rolled into their neighbour’s yard. WTF?

BombasticSideEye · Yesterday 20:54

I've just seen a clip of an interview with the grandson of the man who shot Ralph. He was pretty clear about his grandfather having warped views and "racist tendencies".

I read that this morning, he's a Fox "News" addict and Q Anon nutter.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11995587/Kansas-City-man-84-shot-black-16-year-old-Ralph-Yarl-QAnon-conspiracy-theorist.html

Lester's grandson, Klint Ludwig, told CNN's Don Lemon his grandfather was a 'stock American Christian male' warped by racist conspiracy theories and that his attitudes were a symptom of age and paranoia. 'It's the conspiracies and weird, random, racist things they say, and it doesn't make sense, but they're just scared,' he added.

There is definitely a conversation that needs to happen about the very real danger that outlets like Fox put people in. It's appalling. It's not even about having opposing views since everything is so polarised these days, it's about the tone they take and the way they whip people up into a frenzy. They capitalise on fear and outrage with zero regard for consequences.