Missouri governor smacked down for claiming Biden administration is 'politicizing' shooting of Black teen

The White House is firing back after Missouri Gov. Mike Parson complained that President Joe Biden is "politicizing" the shooting of Ralph Yarl, reportedThe Kansas City Star on Monday.

Yarl, a Black 16-year-old from Kansas City, was shot by Andrew Lester, an 84-year-old white man, after he mistakenly went to the wrong house to pick up his siblings. Lester, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, reportedly ignored 911 warnings not to open the door before shooting Yarl, and his grandson has told reporters he has heard Lester making racist comments.

"Parson, a Republican who has frequently been critical of Biden, said the president was trying to make a political statement out of the tragedy. Biden has been a staunch supporter of stricter gun laws and has frequently asked Congress to pass legislation that would ban certain guns," reported Daniel Desrochers. "'We have young men and women get killed in St. Louis and Kansas City every day. Does the president of the United States ever call those families and ask them to come there?' Parson said to The Star last week. 'Did he call the families in Nashville, Tennessee that lost their kids and ask them to come to the White House?'"

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre hit back at him on Monday.

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“What the president is doing is trying to protect families and communities across the country,” said Jean Pierre. “That’s the action this president has taken the past two years, doing almost two dozen actions and executive orders to make sure that we are taking steps to stop the epidemic we are seeing with gun violence. And that’s what he should do as president.”

The shooting of Yarl is one of multiple that have gained attention nationwide in which the victim mistakenly ended up in the wrong place, including a pair of Texas cheerleaders who were shot after trying to get into the wrong car.