Kansas City Mayor Suggests Racism After Missouri Governor Called Chiefs Parade Shooters ‘Thugs’

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas (D) claims Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) used a racial “dog whistle” when he referred to the Chiefs parade shooting suspects as “thugs.”

The New York Post reported that Lucas made this assessment on KCUR’s Up to Date radio program.

Parson had reacted to Wednesday’s shooting by saying, “We can’t let some thugs just take over and ruin what happened.”

Lucas told KCUR, “I have respect for the governor. We get along well. I disagree strongly with how he would describe that situation. I certainly do think this was criminal activity. It was lawlessness, and I think that that’s troubling. But ‘thugs’ is a dog whistle in the most classic sense.”

He continued, “I’ve seen this dog whistle time and again. There’s this kind of giant conservative theory on social media now that the reason these mug shots haven’t been shown is because the purported defendants are black, and if it were a white defendant we would have just shown them. That is absolutely preposterous. There are protections to juveniles.”

On Friday, Breitbart News reported the two juveniles were charged with gun-related charges and resisting arrest. The Associated Press reported that a news release from the Jackson County Family Court noted that “additional charges are expected in the future as the investigation by the Kansas City Police Department continues.”

The Chiefs celebratory parade was just ending when a dispute between individuals reportedly led to shots being fired. One person was killed, and over 20 others were injured as a result of the shooting.

Democrat-run Kansas City witnessed 182 homicides in 2023. Missouri State Rep. Ashley Aune (D) told KCUR that she believes the solution to the gun violence is “electing more Democrats in Missouri, full stop. That’s the only way things will change.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a pro-staffer for Pulsar Night Vision. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.