Father of Missouri Teen Who Died After Falling from Florida Amusement Park Ride Says His Son’s Death is Being ‘Swept Under the Rug’ ‘Because He’s a Black Young Man’

A photo of Tyre Sampson rests at a memorial site outside the Orlando Free Fall drop tower ride at ICON Park in Orlando on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel via AP)

The father of a Missouri teen who died after plunging from an Orlando amusement park ride in March said his son’s death is being “swept under the rug” by park operators because he is black.

Speaking at a press conference in front of the Free Fall attraction at ICON Park Monday, Yarnell Sampson said his family has not been treated respectfully in the wake of his passing.

“I don’t want to use the race thing,” he said. “But I believe that because my son is a black young man he is getting treated like this. I believe it was a European child it would have been different.”

Tyre Sampson, 14, plummeted from the ride at high speed and died from blunt force trauma caused by smashing into the concrete below, an autopsy found.

Yarnell Sampson’s attorney, Ben Crump, said Monday that the report found that the impact lacerated several of the boy’s internal organs.

His father, who said his son’s bloated face was nearly unrecognizable at his funeral, ripped both the ride’s manufacturer and ICON Park for failing to permanently shutter and dismantle the ride and for not placing a permanent memorial at the site.

The ride is currently closed indefinitely while an investigation is ongoing.

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SOURCE: New York Post, Selim Algar