Kansas

Kansas City mayor accuses governor of racial ‘dog whistle’ for calling Super Bowl parade shooters ‘thugs’

Published

2 years ago

February 18, 2024

Kansas City mayor accuses governor of racial ‘dog whistle’ for calling Super Bowl parade shooters ‘thugs’

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.”

“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.”

Source link

Click to comment

Kansas

Former Kansas high school wrestling coach charged with producing child pornography

Published

14 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Former Kansas high school wrestling coach charged with producing child pornography

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – A former Kansas wrestling coach was charged with creating child sexual abuse materials by secretly recording minors showering during an athletic competition.

According to court documents, 37-year-old Ryan Brungardt of Salina is charged with two counts of production of child pornography and one count of attempted production of child pornography.

Brungardt is a former employee at Lakewood Middle School and former wrestling coach for Salina Central High School.

Brungardt is accused of using a cellphone to record three minors while they showered in a locker room during the Tournament of Champions, a wrestling tournament was held at Newton High in January 2024.

Brungardt made his initial court appearance for the criminal complaint on Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brooks G. Severson.

A detention hearing is scheduled for Monday

Investigators are in the process of reviewing additional seized cellphone videos in this case that are suspected to have been recorded at wrestling meets in Newton, Hays, Garden City and Salina during the 2023-2024 wrestling season.

Anyone who believes they witnessed crimes or any suspicious activity at these events is asked to contact the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at (785) 600-8790 or report at www.kbi.ks.gov/sar.

Source link