Man Who Shot Ralph Yarl Watched Fox News Nonstop and Said 'Racist Things,' Grandson Says

[Jilly_in_VA]

The grandson of the Kansas City, Missouri man accused of shooting an unarmed Black teenager in the head and arm says his grandfather “holds racist tendencies” and watches Fox News around the clock.

Andrew Lester, 84, pleaded not guilty to two felonies Wednesday: first-degree assault, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, and armed criminal action. Lester allegedly shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl through his home’s glass door when Yarl mistakenly went to his home while trying to pick up his twin brothers on the night of April 13.

In an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon Thursday morning, Lester’s grandson, Klint Ludwig, said he’s “disgusted” by the shooting and stands with Yarl.

“This country, it happens over and over again where people get away with killing unarmed innocent Black people,” he said.

Ludwig said his grandfather’s “racist tendencies” have been reinforced by his media diet.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d9b45/ralph-yarl-shot-andrew-lester-foxnews

Whoooooo's shocked? I bet his lawyer will try to plead insanity.

[Irish_Dem]

1. Fox doesn't care how many Americans they kill. Create hatred and give everyone a gun.

It is their business model to create as much hatred, division, death and destruction as possible.
And it is a quite lucrative business model.

[RockRaven]

5. Violence and death that they inspire is good for business. Once misrepresented with their usual

lies, it reinforces the fear and anger they are intentionally spreading. The predictable results of their misdeeds is just more grist for the mill.

[Irish_Dem]

6. GOP fascists also like the death and destruction.

They fund raise and get votes from it.

And they can get control with a fearful populace.

[underpants]

8. And apparently they are upping their fees from cable companies

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217844263

Following Fox News’ massive defamation settlement paid out to Dominion Election Systems, the network is now pursuing an even more aggressive strategy to raise revenue by increasing the fee paid by cable and satellite providers to $3 per subscriber, according to a new report from Vanity Fair.

Fox News executives insist that sponsors have not been spooked by the Big Lie scandal, nor have the cable and satellite providers that carry the network. In the negotiations that are taking place this spring between Fox and the likes of Comcast, Fox wants to break past the three-buck mark—meaning three dollars per cable household per month, according to sources familiar with the matter. Even though the American cable universe is shrinking, Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch are still extracting billions of dollars.

[Irish_Dem]

9. Yes the GOP and corporate media are all in working for death and destruction.

Brings in money and votes.

[LiberalFighter]

34. Why should it be based on subscribers? Shouldn't it be based on viewers?

[mopinko]

2. he very well could have a legit diminished capacity defense.

a whole lot of ppl express their dementia w prejudice and anger.
i’ll wait and see.
was someone supposed to be watching him? he looked pretty feeble.

but no way should that dude have been able to have a gun. i’m just glad it wasnt something more dangerous.
this is why it matters to ban the worst of the worst. w an ar….

[Aristus]

3. My racist grandfather used to beat my mother with an Army belt.

If he were alive today, I have no doubt he'd have an arsenal of weapons, and be a devout FOX watcher...

[Jilly_in_VA]

4. I heard yesterday evening

that Ralph Yarl is now recovering at home. Thanks be to all the gods. When I heard "shot in the head" I envisioned all sorts of horrors.

[Irish_Dem]

7. Yes usually someone brought into a hospital ER with a gunshot to the head doesn't end well.

I wonder if there is going to be permanent damage.

[Maru Kitteh]

22. I did hear there was a skull fracture with some intrusion

a fair guess is that one of the shots broke through the skull and then stopped at the dura mater.

Guessing the most harmful of the permanent damage will be to Mr. Yarl (and his family) as a person, to his emotional well-being. The vigilance every POC feels while out in the world will be multiplied exponentially for this young man and those close to him.

[Irish_Dem]

28. We don't really know the extent of any brain damage until the swelling goes down.

Then he can be evaluated to determine if he lost some brain function.

Yes he is going to have emotional issues for sure.

[Paladin]

10. Least surprising news of the day. (nt)

[calimary]

11. Fox "News" is hazardous to your health.

It certainly rots one’s brain and disables one’s conscience.

[Carlitos Brigante]

12. Weird, I just read a comment here the other day about (and I paraphrase) 'this poor,

frightened old man'.

[Aviation Pro]

13. This fuckstick is a fucking turd

He's been waiting all his life for 'permission' to shoot a POC.

Oh, and fuck you and your age, that's not a get out of jail free card.

[Bristlecone]

14. "Mission Accomplished," Rupert Murdoch, April 20, 2023

[LittleGirl]

18. Ding, ding, ding

Fed a diet 24/7 of police arrests of those bad people on Fox local and international tv.
Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha going to do, bad boys!

Instead…
Watch BBC nature programs and volunteer some time to preserve your home land.
Meet the freaking neighbors so there’s less unknowns.

[LiberalLovinLug]

15. Not all of Fox News viewers are violent, deranged, racists

But all violent, deranged, racists watch Fox News.

[LudwigPastorius]

16. Fortunately, a life sentence will probably be 5 years or so.

Big win for us taxpayers.

[samrob22]

17. The young will save themselves from this hate. It's too late to save the rest of us. nt

[Maru Kitteh]

24. That's what they said when I was young?

I don't know what the answer is, but it's abundantly clear we've not found it yet. One thing we do know after thousands of years and body counts into the hundreds of millions at least, it will NOT be found in religion, that's for sure.

[Trust_Reality]

31. Yes, I fear religions and all of the fear and divisiveness that comes with them are

here to stay. I lot of people love God, guns, and Fox "News".

I consider it a form of insanity.

[C Moon]

19. Smart young man.

[jcgoldie]

20. shocker

[Kaleva]

21. The rest of his family says otherwise

I'll wait for more info as to if he's a racist or not and watches Fox non-stop.

I do believe he has little to no training as far as using a gun for self/ home defense. He wouldn't have gone to the door armed and opened it if he had

[Kingofalldems]

27. Got a link on that?

Looked all over but can't find that at all.

[Kaleva]

30. It's in the article the OP provided a link to

[Carlitos Brigante]

36. Where in the linked article do you see any of that? nt

[Kaleva]

37. My bad. It's in another article

"Two other relatives who spoke with The Star said they didn’t believe Lester was a racist and thought he likely was scared when he shot Yarl."
.
"Another grandson of Lester’s said he thinks characterizing the shooting as a hate crime is inaccurate.

Daniel Ludwig, 30, of Kansas City — who is Klint’s older brother — said he did not believe race played a role in the shooting."


https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article274517706.html

[Carlitos Brigante]

39. Yeah, I'd read all that, elsewhere. But 2 people don't constitute "the rest of his family". Then

there's the ex wife who hasn't spoken to him on decades because she used to live in fear of him and his anger. No friends or relatives showed up at the hearing to support him either.

[yardwork]

40. Seems like an admission of racism to me.

"Scared" of a Black teen? Why? Why would he be so scared that he opened the main door and shot through the glass storm door?

When I'm scared I don't open the door.

And 99% of Americans who are racist insist they're not.

[Cha]

23. Wow.. I'm surprised about his Grandson..

telling it like it is and turning against this grandfather.

He brings out the Ugliness of fux sewer and the killing of unarmed Black People in this country.

[PlutosHeart]

26. Faux needs to start seeing lawsuits on these

killings. There would be many many many of them.

[Cha]

29. Yes! TY

[bluestarone]

25. After the Dominion settlement and other settlements coming, maybe

It's time for the networks that CONTINUE to carry Fox, should be sued by families that have victims involved with Gun violence. LIES are LIES!

[Trust_Reality]

32. Yes. With Fox is apparently all about greed, so monetary settlements should be quite useful.

If the settlements are big enough. Otherwise it is just a business expense.

Wipe out the Fox bastards and all of their comrades.

[Vinca]

33. Wonder how much granddad's house is worth. I've got a feeling Ralph is going to own it.

[yardwork]

41. Hope so. It's the least he's owed.

[ificandream]

35. From his picture, he looks like a stereotypical Fox News wacko.

[leftyladyfrommo]

38. According to his X wife he has always been violent.

He just got worse .

[Jilly_in_VA]

43. Well, my mom always said

that when people start losing it, they just get more like they are. Think on that for a few minutes.

[MissMillie]

42. Seems like he doesn't like dear old grandpa much

Seriously... why would this guy go on CNN and call his grandpa a racist?

Mind you, I'm not doubting WHAT he said. And it's quite possible that his interview may put things in motion for a hate-crime charge (which seems warranted).

But all the good his interview might do, it won't help his grandfather any.

Gotta wonder about the family dynamics.

[yardwork]

44. The grandson said he's sick of white people shooting Black people.

I think he feels that he's in a position to speak up. Good for him. There's a point where family loyalty is less important than righting wrongs.