Arabella Yarbrough, the mother of two nearly killed by Andrew “Tekle” Sundberg before Minneapolis Police snipers gunned him down last week, was filmed raging at Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters after the group hailed him as another victim of police brutality.
Last Wednesday, 20-year-old Andrew “Tekle” Sundberg allegedly fired into Yarbrough’s apartment where she lived with her two children. He later fired upon her again as police escorted her and her family safely out of the apartment complex. The incident led to a six-hour standoff, during which Tekle refused to speak with negotiators even after his father, Mark Sundberg, pleaded with him to break radio silence. The episode came to a tragic end when Minneapolis police snipers ended Tekle’s life.
Tekle’s parents, who adopted him from Ethiopia at the age of four, have claimed their son had a mental breakdown and feel police could have done more to de-escalate the situation. BLM activists have since championed his cause, and a march was held in his honor on Saturday near the apartment complex where police shot him. Yarbrough, however, feels that protesters have made a false martyr out of Tekle and raged at those present on Saturday for their lack of empathy for her situation.
“Just let it go. Grief in silence,” Yarbrough raged at the protesters, some of whom shouted back at her while telling her to “shut up.”
“This is not a George Floyd situation. George Floyd was unarmed,” she added. “That man was armed. George Floyd was not armed. Breonna Taylor was not armed. Amir Locke he was armed and he had his own guns but they came into his home while he is licensed to carry and killed him. He did not … fire. This man intentionally tried to kill us.”
Yarbrough told Fox 9 she had just “five minutes to live while he had six hours to choose life or death.”
Prior to the fateful incident, Yarbrough said Tekle would frequently blare loud music from his apartment and was “stalking, threatening” her.
Things boiled over during Saturday’s rally and march for Tekle Sundberg, when the 24 year old woman who says he was shooting into her apt. showed up voicing her frustration with those gathering in front of her building on Sundberg’s behalf. @kare11 * video contains profanity * pic.twitter.com/qdi1vbgO7k
— Deevon Rahming (@DeevonRahming) July 16, 2022
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Despite her outrage, Sundberg’s parents believe that their son was unjustly killed due to his skin color.
“My heart goes out to that woman (Yarbrough). She went through a very traumatic event with those bullets coming through her house,” said Mark Sundberg.
“We can do both things. We can feel terribly for this woman, but also remember that Tekle should be here with us and he should be alive and we can ask the Minneapolis Police Department to do better,” said the Sundberg family attorney, Jeff Storms.
Famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump has described Tekle as a “loving and artistic 20-year-old” who was just experiencing a “mental health crisis.”
This is Tekle Sundberg. Minneapolis Police Department killed this smart, loving & artistic 20-year-old after an hours-long standoff while he was experiencing a mental health crisis. We need ANSWERS from MPD as to why Tekle’s mental health crisis became a death sentence! pic.twitter.com/MuxrzxcHL0
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) July 16, 2022
This crisis could have been deescalated with no lives lost!
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) July 16, 2022
