Protests have taken place across the country after a jury in Kenosha, Wisconsin, found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all five charges including intentional homicide. Rittenhouse was on trial for fatally shooting two people and wounding a third last year during racial justice protests that began after police in Kenosha shot and paralyzed Jacob Blake. Kyle Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, claimed he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum with an AR-15-style rifle. Rittenhouse took to the streets after a right-wing group had called for armed vigilantes to patrol Kenosha. The jury’s decision was announced Friday afternoon after about 26 hours of deliberation.
In a statement, the parents of Anthony Huber, one of the protesters killed by Rittenhouse, said they were heartbroken and angry and that the verdict “sends the unacceptable message that armed civilians can show up in any town, incite violence, and then use the danger they have created to justify shooting people in the street.” The jury’s decision in the Kyle Rittenhouse case was widely decried by racial justice activists and many politicians. NAACP President Derrick Johnson tweeted, “The verdict in the #KyleRittenhouseTrial is a reminder of the treacherous role that white supremacy and privilege play within our justice system.” California Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted, “America today: you can break the law, carry around weapons built for a military, shoot and kill people, and get away with it. That’s the message we’ve just sent to armed vigilantes across the nation.” Many right-wing politicians have hailed Kyle Rittenhouse as a hero. Republican Congressmember Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina has offered Rittenhouse an internship. In a video message, Cawthorn urged his Instagram followers to be “armed and dangerous.”
— source democracynow.org | Nov 22, 2021