Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who killed two people and shot another during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was acquitted Friday of first-degree intentional homicide and four other felony charges. https://tinyurl.com/4ukmbjsk
I WAS NOT IN KENOSHA when the event occurred.
All I know about the Rittenhouse trial I learned from tv and “social media.”
I DO know that some of the media convicted Rittenhouse before he even set foot into the courtroom.
I DO know that some people threatened to burn down communities across the U.S.; communities that had nothing to do with either the shootings or the trial.
I am given to understand the prosecution was inept.
Not in dispute
What I learned today is that the people Rittenhouse shot were caucasians.
According to the BBC https://tinyurl.com/m5usypz4, “Rittenhouse, then aged 17, had traveled to the city (Kenosha) from his home in Illinois. Armed with a semi-automatic rifle, he said he sought to help protect property from unrest."
Wikipedia https://tinyurl.com/338v6zxb writers contend that “On August 25, 2020, during the unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old from Antioch, Illinois, fatally shot two men and wounded another during three confrontations. Rittenhouse had armed himself with a semi-automatic AR-15 style rifle and said he was in Kenosha to protect a car dealership from being vandalized and to provide medical aid.”
It is unclear Rittenhouse’s interest in a car dealership in another state. Equally unclear is Rittenhouse's medical training and if, in addition to the rifle, he also carried medical supplies..
Apparently someone fired a shot that apparently hit no one, but Rittenhouse turned on Joseph Rosenbaum, who according to a witness, lunged at Rittenhouse and tried to take his rifle. Wikipedia, ibid.
Based on Rosenbaum’s action, Rittenhouse’s legal counsel decided on a self-defense plea.
Consider
Rittenhouse, an Illinois resident, takes his gun and goes to Kenosha Wisconsin to protect a car dealership.
- He is not a trained and sworn law enforcement officer.
He was not in Wisconsin’s National Guard that might have been called out to protect citizen’s property.
He was walking around with a loaded semi-automatic rifle in a highly tense situation.
If he had stayed in Illinois or even left the rifle home, the likelihood of being attacked by Rosenbaum would have been infinitesimal.
The prosecution apparently tried to take away the self-defense plea by pointing out that Rittenhouse came to a tense town with his loaded rifle.
The jury apparently disagreed.
Justice served
Was justice served.
It depends on your political leanings.
Per the BBC BBC, ibid. Reactions from politicians on Friday highlighted divisions over the case.
Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, a Democrat, was among those to denounce the verdict.
Lame duck New York Mayor Bill de Blasio went further, in a tweet describing the verdict as "disgusting".
Facebook, Twitter and GoFundMe removed content supporting Rittenhouse, BEFORE THE TRIAL citing rules banning praise or support of mass shooters or glorification of violence. Facebook further disabled searches for "Kyle Rittenhouse" on its website, with a spokesperson saying "We've designated this shooting as a mass murder and have removed the shooter's accounts from Facebook and Instagram"
President Biden reportedly said "While the verdict in Kenosha will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included, we must acknowledge that the jury has spoken... I know that we're not going to heal our country's wounds overnight, but I remain steadfast in my commitment to do everything in my power to ensure that every American is treated equally, with fairness and dignity, under the law."Wikipedia, ibid.
Wisconsin's Governor Tony Evers said it was "time to move forward, together".
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