Rep. Cleaver says Ralph Yarl shooting should make the country ‘think very carefully’

Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver on Monday said he was anxiously awaiting a police investigation into a man who shot Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old who approached the wrong door in Kansas City when going to pick up his siblings.

Cleaver, the first Black mayor of Kansas City, said Yarl was a bright, hard-working and responsible young man who was nearly killed for doing what countless older brothers do — pick up their younger siblings to get them home safely.

“I want to be very clear that Ralph Yarl should be safe and at home with his family right now,” Cleaver said. “I can think of no justification for shooting a child multiple times for ringing the wrong doorbell—and we as a society ought to think very carefully about whether or not that is the world we want to live in.”

Yarl, who is Black, was shot on Thursday night. Kansas City police said he was attempting to pick up his siblings, but rang the doorbell at the wrong address — at a home on Northeast 115th Street instead of Northeast 115th Terrace. The man who opened the door shot Yarl in the head. Then shot Yarl again when he was on the ground. Yarl was able to get up and seek help from neighbors, but had to go to three homes before getting help.

The homeowner is a white man in his 80s, according to property records and law enforcement records. The Star is not naming the man because he has not been charged.

The shooting has drawn outcry from across the country, thrusting it into a contentious political debate over the country’s gun laws. Missouri has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the country and gives wide latitude to people who use deadly force if they can prove it was in self-defense.

Cleaver is a staunch proponent of gun regulation. In the past two years, he has performed a silent protest by leaving the House chamber every time lawmakers hold a moment of silence for people killed by gun violence, saying the prayers ring hollow when Congress has not taken more action.

Other Missouri lawmakers were silent on the shooting over the weekend. Republican Sens. Eric Schmitt and Josh Hawley did not immediately respond to a request for comment and have not issued any statements about Yarl. Rep. Eric Burlison, a Republican who worked to loosen gun laws while in the Missouri General Assembly before his election to Congress, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lucas Kunce, a Democrat running against Hawley for Senate in 2024, said “Law and order doesn’t look like this.”

“You shouldn’t get shot for mixing up an address,” Kunce said. “Shooting a child for ringing your doorbell should get you locked up forever. But in Missouri, violent white supremacists and criminals get to claim a legal defense to shoot first, ask later.”

Kunce sent out an email Monday from his campaign directing people to the GoFundMe supporting Yarl’s family.

This story was originally published April 17, 2023 at 12:16 PM.

Daniel Desrochers

The Kansas City Star

Daniel Desrochers was the Star’s Washington correspondent. He covered Congress and the White House with a focus on policy and politics important to Kansas and Missouri. He previously covered politics and government for the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Charleston Gazette-Mail.