Analysis from the British media The Guardian
Here is what has happened in the Rittenhouse case today.
A jury on Friday found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on charges related to his shooting dead two people at an anti-racism protest and injuring a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year
The acquittal has been widely condemned as a “travesty” that could embolden others to take similar vigilante-style approaches to anti-racism protests and political activists in the future.
Joe Biden commented on the Rittenhouse outcome, saying that he “stands by” the Rittenhouse decision.“I stand by what the jury has concluded. The jury system works.”
Donald Trump “congratulated” Kyle Rittenhouse on today’s verdict. The former president put out a brief statement that read: “If that’s not self-defense, nothing is!”
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned the decision as an indictment of America’s justice system: “What we are witnessing is a system functioning as designed and protecting those it was designed for,” she tweeted.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2021/nov/19/kyle-rittenhouse-verdict-not-guilty-kenosha-shooting-latest
Guardian columnist Cas Muddle has written on what the Rittenhouse verdict says about the state of rightwing vigilantism in the US today and the consequences for progressive demonstrators.
Muddle writes:
We know that “self-defense” – often better known as vigilantism – is legally protected and highly racialized in this country. Think of the acquittal of George Zimmerman of the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2013. In essence, the Rittenhouse ruling has created a kind of “stand your ground” law for the whole country.
White people now have the apparent right to travel around the country, heavily armed, and use violence to protect the country from whatever and whoever they believe to be threatening to it. Given the feverish paranoia and racism that has captured a sizeable minority of white people in the US these days, this is a recipe for disaster.
In the coming hours and days, many media outlets will eagerly await riots or other potentially violent reactions from the other side – from the anti-racists and progressives of all colors and races who are disturbed by this verdict – and use the existence of those riots, if they occur, to push a misguided “both sides” frame. If there is protest or rioting, don’t expect the police to be as courteous and supportive as they were towards Rittenhouse and his far-right buddies.
The most worrying effect of this verdict may be this: giving right wing vigilantes a legal precedent to take up arms against anyone they consider a threat – which pretty much runs from anti-fascists to so-called Rinos (Republicans in Name Only) and includes almost all people of color – means it is now open hunting season on progressive protesters.
Commentary by Steve, an American
The problem with Americans. They believe the liars
How many people are NOW saying:
I didn't know that Kyle put out a dumpster fire that was being rolled down to a gas station to blow up, with people all around.
I didn't know that the Police were told to stand down as businesses were destroyed.
I didn't know that Kyle's Dad, Grandma and Friends all lived in Kenosha, 20 minutes from where he resided with his Mom part time in Illinois.
I didn't know that Joseph Rosenbaum knocked him down twice and then attempted to kick him with lethal force to the head.
I didn't know that Huber had hit him in the head 2x with a skateboard.
I didn't know Gaige Grosskreutz, a felon in possession of firearm, aimed his gun at Kyle first, as he admitted on the stand.
I also didn't know that in the State of Wisconsin, it is legal for Kyle to have a gun, even at 17 (which was why the gun charge was dismissed).
I didn't know that Kyle did not cross state lines with a gun he wasn't supposed to have. The rightful gun owner did, as he was legally permitted to do.
I also didn't realize that Rosenbaum was a 5 time convicted child rapist (He liked little boys) that had been released from a mental facility that week and that Huber was a 2 time convicted woman beater.
I didn't know that Grosskreutz was a convicted Burglar with an assault on his record.
I didn't know they were all Caucasian.
IF THE CORRUPT MEDIA DID THEIR JOB... we ALL would have known
"Steve" didn't supply his source.
POST VERDICT
We can't find any reference to Kyle Rittenhouse instigating the altercation by attending a demonstration armed. Is this just the American Way?
"I think the way in which self-defence is defined in the law in Wisconsin, this was going to be a difficult charge to prove," said John Gross, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the Public Defender Project.
Self-defence law in Wisconsin, which is generally consistent across the states, allows for an individual to use deadly force when they reasonably believe deadly force or serious force that could cause great bodily harm or death is about to be used against them, Gross said.
"The prosecution [had] to convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that [Rittenhouse] was not, in fact, acting in self-defence," he said.
Steven Wright, a clinical associate professor of law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said he believes some of those who are surprised by the verdict may have been influenced by Rittenhouse's actions before the shooting — coming in from Illinois to Wisconsin during the Blake protests and saying he was there to defend private property while armed with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle.
'None of that was illegal'
"None of that was illegal in the United States," Wright said. "Once you accept that, you just have to look at the facts of what happened that night."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/kyle-rittenhouse-acquittal-legal-experts-1.6256209