Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas accused Missouri Gov. Mike Parson of using a racial "dog whistle" when referring to the suspected shooters at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade as "thugs."
Lucas made the comment during an appearance on local radio show "Up to Date" on Friday. He told KCUR host Steve Kraske that he has seen similar incidents of alleged racism "time and again."
Following the shooting, Parson had said, "We can't let some thugs just take over and ruin what happened."
"I have respect for the governor. We get along well," Lucas told Kraske. "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."
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"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," he added.
Two minors were charged with gun-related offenses in relation to the shooting last week, which killed one person and injured 22 others.
"Two juveniles were charged on Thursday, February 15, 2024, by the Office of the Juvenile Officer related to the incident at the Chiefs' rally on February 14, 2024," the 16th Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri announced Friday.
"The juveniles are currently detained in secure detention at the Juvenile Detention Center on gun-related and resisting arrest charges," the court added.
At least 11 children were wounded during the shooting, but were expected to recover as of Wednesday night. Nine of them were shot, while two sustained other injuries.
The court's Friday statement added: "It is anticipated that additional charges are expected in the future as the investigation by the Kansas City Police Department continues."
