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