Andrew Lester’s grandson reveals history of racist comments and ‘crazy’ Fauci conspiracy

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One of the grandsons of the man accused of shooting Black teenager Ralph Yarl said his grandfather believed in a “crazy” conspiracy theory involving US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci.

Ralph, a 16-year-old high school junior, was shot twice last Thursday when he went to pick up his younger twin brothers from a friend’s house in Kansas City, Missouri, on 13 April.

Kansas City police said the teen had gone to collect his siblings from a friend’s house on 115th Terrace, but got the address muddled up and accidentally rang the doorbell of a home on 115th Street, where he was shot.

Andrew Lester, an 84-year-old resident, has been charged with opening fire on him. Ralph was shot twice allegedly by Mr Lester.

Klint Ludwig, one of Mr Lester’s grandsons, said he was estranged from his grandfather as he had embraced right-wing conspiracy theories.

During the Covid pandemic, in an instance when the family was sitting together, Mr Lester had shared a conspiracy theory against Mr Fauci, said Mr Ludwig, without elaborating on what the conspiracy theory was.

“I was like, ‘Man, this sounds crazy’,” Mr Ludwig told The New York Times. “I told him it was ridiculous.”

The two have been distant from each other since then, he said.

The 28-year-old grandson also claimed Mr Lester used to make disparaging comments about Black people, gay people, and immigrants.

Mr Lester pleaded not guilty to first-degree assault and armed criminal action at his first appearance in Clay County Court on Wednesday over the shooting.

One unidentified relative of Mr Lester said the 84-year-old spent “considerable time at home in a living room chair, watching conservative news programs at high volume”.

The grandson also said Mr Lester kept a large number of firearms in his home, including rifles and handguns.

Lee Merritt, the lawyer for the Yarl family, told reporters on Wednesday that the shooting was now being probed by the Justice Department as a hate crime.

The 16-year-old’s mother Cleo Nagbe told CBS on Tuesday about the horror injuries her son suffered in the shooting.

“Ralph was shot on the top of his left eye – his frontal lobe and the top of his right arm,” she said.

“He had the bullet up here [in his head] for about 12 hours before it was taken out, so that injury is extensive.”

Ms Nagbe said the “extensive” injuries mean Ralph has a long road ahead to recovery.