Kansas City man, 84, who shot black 16 year-old Ralph Yarl was QAnon conspiracy theorist

An 84-year-old man from Kansas City – who shot a 16-year-old black boy who accidentally knocked on his door – was a QAnon conspiracy theorist with racist views, his grandson claimed.

Andrew Lester shot Ralph Yarl on April 13 after the teenager knocked on his front door to collect his twin younger brothers, but had the wrong address.

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.

Lester pleaded not guilty during his first appearance at Clay County Courthouse in Kansas City on Wednesday. 

Yarl’s attorneys said the boy suffered a traumatic brain injury but is able to walk – it is hoped he will make a full recovery.

‘I believe he holds racist tendencies and beliefs,’ said Ludwig when asked by Lemon if his grandfather is racist.

‘I feel like a lot of people of that generation are caught up in this 24-hour news cycle of fear and paranoia, perpetuated by some other news stations,’ he added.

‘And he was fully into that, sitting and watching Fox News all day, every day, blaring in his living room. And I think that stuff really kind of reinforces this negative view of minority groups.

‘It doesn’t necessarily lead people to be racist, but it reinforces and galvanizes racist people and their beliefs,’ he said.

‘In this country, it happens over and over again where people get away with killing unarmed innocent black people, and I would have had the same energy for any other case.’

When asked if he had a message for Yarl, Ludwig said: ‘Proud of you, Ralph. I’m so sorry this happened to you. I understand you’re an amazing kid and I think you’re going to grow up to be an amazing man. You didn’t do anything wrong.

‘You deserve justice, and my family stands with you,’ he added.

The incident happened after Yarl accidentally went to Northeast 115th Street instead of Northeast 115th Terrace – one block from one another – in the north of Kansas City.

Yarl approached the door but did not ‘cross the threshold’ into the house, according to prosecutors.

Lester was said to have opened the door and fired two .32-caliber rounds from a revolver that struck Yarl on the forehead and the arm. Prosecutors said there was no indication that any words were exchanged. 

Lester told a police officer after the shooting that he saw a black man ‘pulling on the exterior storm door handle,’ and that he believed the person was attempting to break in.

Yarl has since been interviewed by a detective, and said that he only rang the doorbell and did not pull on the door. 

The comments by Lester’s grandson on his character come after his ex-wife told the New York Times that while she was married to him she was scared of his violence.

Mary Clayton, 81, was married to Lester for 14 years and the pair had three children together.

They divorced many years ago and she moved to California. When Lester’s face appeared on the news in reports about last week’s incident, she said she did not initially recognize him.

She said his alleged crime did not shock her. ‘I was always scared of him,’ she told the newspaper. ‘It doesn’t surprise me, what happened.’

Clayton said that during their marriage he would frequently become violently angry and smash objects in their house.

When she reported him to the police, she said, the officers told her that it was his house and he could do as he pleased. She said she did not know about his alleged crime until her daughter rang her and told her.

Lester on Wednesday appeared in court and entered a not guilty plea during a three-minute appearance at Clay County Courthouse.

He is charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action, and his next appearance is set for June 1.

Zachary Thompson, Clay County prosecutor, said: ‘I can tell you that there was a racial component to the case… I don’t want to comment on specifics of the case to protect its integrity.’

Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves also acknowledged the ‘racial components’ at play in the case.

Lester shot twice within seconds of opening the door, according to his statement, and claims that no words were exchanged

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said that Yarl was ‘shot because he was existing while black’. He told CNN that he ‘shared the outrage’ of residents in Kansas City over the lack of action.

‘To pretend that race is not a part of this whole situation would be to have your head in the sand,’ he said.