(Note: Some context. In August of 2020, Jacob Blake was shot, and seriously injured, by the police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Blake is black. Both the state investigators and the federal government looked into the shooting and concluded there was no basis to charge the police officers involved in the shooting. But that did not deter a mob from not only immediately protesting, but burning and looting as well. Only a few days later, Kyle Rittenhouse was on the streets of Kenosha, and armed with a rifle, he shot and killed two men and injured a third. He has been acquitted of all charges relating to those shootings. A further note. I only watched a little of the trial, but I have read some of the testimony and other analyses. As an attorney trained to look at the facts and the law, I believe the jury reached the proper verdict, notwithstanding what was likely an enormous amount of pressure on them to find Rittenhouse guilty.)
Rittenhouse has been repeatedly referred to as a "white supremacist." I have not seen any support for that allegation. The men he shot were white. But I'm wondering if just being white today is enough to get one branded as a white supremacist.
Rittenhouse "crossed state lines." Yes, he lived in Antioch, Illinois with his mother and sister, But his father lives in Kenosha, and Rittenhouse has worked there. Question: when did it become illegal to cross state lines? Was the media concerned about how many "protesters" crossed state lines following the shooting of Jacob Blake?
Rittenhouse was a "vigilante," and initiated aggressive actions against those he shot. Wrong. Joseph Rosenbaum (who was shot and killed) was seen charging after Rittenhouse on video, and reaching for the barrel of the rifle. Rosenbaum was previously heard threatening Rittenhouse. Rosenbaum had a criminal record, but that is also irrelevant, as we don't get to shoot people for having a record.
A star witness for the prosecution was the man who was shot and survived, Gaige Grosskreutz. But here is how it went on cross-examination by defense counsel: Question: "When you were standing three to five feet from him with your arms up in the air, he never fired, right?" Answer: "Correct." Question: "It wasn't until you pointed your gun at him, advanced on him, with your gun, now your hands down pointed at him, that he fired, right?" Answer: "Correct." The defense to the shootings was that they were done in "self-defense." The prosecution helped to prove that.
The other man who was shot and killed was Anthony Huber. A video seems to show Huber chasing Rittenhouse, and hitting him with a skateboard in the back of the head and knocking him to the ground. So, in none of these instances was Rittenhouse the aggressor. Huber also had a criminal record. Again, irrelevant to the issues.
Commentators have said that Rittenhouse not only crossed state lines, but did so with the rifle. No, he didn't. The rifle was in Kenosha.
Finally, as we always hear from the mainstream media, the protests following the Jacob Blake shooting, were "mostly peaceful." I am not sure how peaceful protests result in the destruction of 40 local businesses, and a total of at least 100 being damaged. (And for those concerned about the source, it was not Fox News, but the Chicago affiliate ABC News.)
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