ON NOVEMBER 19, 2021, a jury of his peers found Kyle
Rittenhouse not guilty on all counts brought against him. Rittenhouse had been charged with multiple counts of murder, reckless endangerment and illegal possession of a firearm. These charges were a result of the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, as well as the severe injury of Gaige Grosskreutz, during the Black Lives Matter riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on August 25, 2020.
With an endless tidal wave of stories from every media outlet across the country, all scrambling to establish their narrative, it is important to not lose sight of the facts of the case. Let’s take a look at what we know about the night in question, and some of the events surrounding one of the most significant trials of the last two decades.
WHY WAS KYLE RITTENHOUSE AT THE BLM RIOTS?
On August 23, 2020, Kenosha police responded to a domestic incident call, where a woman named Laquisha Booker was claiming that Jacob Blake was refusing to return the keys to her vehicle. Jacob Blake was under investigation for 3rd degree sexual assault and domestic abuse and was not supposed to be interacting with Booker at the time. When police arrived on the scene, they failed to restrain Blake, who was shot seven times when he attempted to retrieve a knife from his vehicle. Blake survived the shooting with partial paralysis.
These events unfolded in the wake of the summer of riots following the killing of George Floyd and quickly garnered national attention, including from then Presidential Candidate Joe Biden. Protests beginning that same day rapidly escalated into full-blown riots with multiple buildings and vehicles being set ablaze, as well as widespread looting, engulfing the city.
Kenosha police were told not to suppress the riots. As a result, local militia, organized by former Kenosha Alderman Kevin Mathewson, mobilized to defend businesses from the rioters. On August 25, 2020, Kyle Rittenhouse, a citizen of Antioch, Illinois, and age 17 at the time, joined the militia in their defense of businesses. Kyle Rittenhouse worked in Kenosha, where his father lived as well. Rittenhouse regularly traveled to Kenosha and knew many of the people whose businesses the militia sought to defend. Prior to the deadly shooting, Rittenhouse had rendered aid to multiple rioters and assisted in preventing a burning dumpster from being pushed toward a gas station.
WHERE DID RITTENHOUSE GET HIS RIFLE, AND WAS HE CARRYING IT ILLEGALLY?
On the night in question, Rittenhouse was carrying a semi-automatic Smith & Wesson rifle purchased by Dominick Black in the state of Wisconsin. Rittenhouse, at 17, was not old enough to purchase the rifle for himself in Wisconsin. The weapon did not cross state lines, as many mainstream media sources have claimed, and will make it difficult to justify a federal investigation, as the entire incident happened within the jurisdiction of Wisconsin.
One of the charges against Rittenhouse was that he was not permitted to carry a rifle due to his age per the below statute. The defense successfully argued that the exception provided for in the statute applied to Rittenhouse. Furthermore, since the rifle did not have a barrel shorter than 16 inches, it was not a short-barrelled rifle and did not violate s. 941.28 of the same statute. As a result, Judge Schroeder dismissed the gun charge against Rittenhouse as a matter of law, meaning the charge could not have been brought against Rittenhouse as he, in no uncertain terms, did not violate the law by bearing the rifle.
WHO WERE THE MEN SHOT BY RITTENHOUSE?
The shooting on August 25th led to the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, as well as severe injury to Gaige Grosskreutz, who was shot in the bicep.
Joseph Rosenbaum was a 37-year-old white male who had recently been released from prison for 11 counts of child molestation and rape. Rosenbaum traveled to Kenosha to participate in the riots and allegedly committed multiple acts of arson and vandalism. He also threatened to kill Rittenhouse and other militia members earlier in the evening. Just prior to the shooting, Rosenbaum was chasing Rittenhouse, who was shouting, “Friendly! Friendly!”, when Joshua Ziminski fired his weapon behind Rittenhouse. Rittenhouse, now believing that he was being shot at, turned around with his rifle. Rittenhouse then fired the fatal shot after Rosenbaum lunged, attempting to steal his rifle.
Anthony Huber was a 26-year-old white male, semi-professional skateboarder, and resident of Kenosha with a history of domestic abuse. Immediately following the fatal shooting of Rosenbaum, Huber chased down Rittenhouse and attempted to bludgeon him with his skateboard. Rittenhouse fired once at Huber, striking him in the chest.
Gaige Grosskreutz is a 28-year-old white male and citizen of West Allis, Wisconsin. Grosskreutz was a former EMT and traveled to Kenosha with the intent of administering medical assistance during the riots. Grosskreutz was carrying a pistol with him at the time, which he drew on Rittenhouse following a brief conversation after the shooting of the previous two men. Grosskreutz testified that Rittenhouse only fired once he had pointed his pistol at Rittenhouse, who shot him in the bicep.
NOTABLE EVENTS OF THE TRIAL
Multiple witnesses for the prosecution, including Richie McGinnis of the Daily Caller, provided testimony that supported Rittenhouse’s claim of self-defense. (One of the charges against Rittenhouse for reckless endangerment was for endangering the life of McGinnis.)
Gaige Grosskreutz testified that Rittenhouse fired at him only after he had pointed his pistol at Rittenhouse.
The prosecution was berated by the judge multiple times for malfeasance, including questioning Rittenhouse’s 5th Amendment rights and withholding evidence from the defense by providing them with lower-quality video footage around which to formulate their arguments.
Multiple threats of violence have been levied at the jurors, Rittenhouse, and the judge by left-wing activists, should he be acquitted. Those activists have also threatened to riot should he be found not guilty, a threat that came true the night of November 19, 2021.
MSNBC was banned from the courthouse following an incident where one of their reporters was detained for running a red light as he attempted to keep up with the bus transporting jurors. This has been viewed as an apparent attempt to intimidate jurors by exposing their identities. The reporter claimed that he was intending to set up interviews for after a verdict had been reached.
WHAT ROLE DID THE MEDIA PLAY IN THE TRIAL?
Due to a lengthy investigation and the high profile status of this case, the Rittenhouse trial took more than one year to reach its first day of arguments. In that time, the media repeatedly ran stories claiming that Rittenhouse was a white supremacist who crossed state lines with an assault rifle and killed two peaceful protestors, then shot a third. Despite many of these claims being debunked shortly after investigations began, the damage of the initial stories had already been inflicted. Even in the aftermath of the trial, people, from average citizens to celebrities, still believe that Rittenhouse had crossed state lines with an illegal weapon to kill black protestors. As a result of this gross negligence, misinformation is continuing to circulate and enrage people across the country.
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT NOW THAT THE TRIAL IS OVER?
The trial of Kyle Rittenhouse has been one of the most divisive trials in the nation’s recent history and serves as a landmark case for the right of self-defense. The case serves as a textbook example of self-defense and, had Rittenhouse been found guilty, “Stand Your Ground” laws all across the country would be called into question. This would mean every case of self-defense that ended with the attacker injured or dead would result in a murder trial.
However, with the not-guilty verdict being delivered, there still remains near insurmountable division. The corporate media has continued to run articles claiming that the trial was a win for white supremacy, and left-wing activists have already instigated riots. With the onset of winter, it is unlikely that we will see riots on the scale of the nationwide George Floyd riots of 2020. However, it is clear that misinformation and partisan activism around what has been characterized by many legal experts as an open-and-shut case will continue to fan the flames of hate in the wake of this trial.