Media leftists called him a “vigilante” and “domestic terrorist.” The Smear Bund on Twitter called him a “racist” and “murderer.” The sleepy occupant of the White House called him a “white supremacist.”
But the jury in the case against Kyle Rittenhouse did not agree.
In a victory for the rule of law and a crushing defeat for the communist mobs who think they rule American streets, 12 jurors at the Kenosha County Courthouse acquitted the 18-year-old on all charges for defending himself against rioting thugs during last year’s Blake riots.
The verdict doesn’t just free Rittenhouse to get on with this life. It sends a message to the communist mobs and their masters in the Deep State and Democrat Party: Don’t think you will burn, loot, and destroy property, and get away with it, when you attack those who stand in the way.
The Video
Video of the frightening events from that August 25, the night Rittenhouse’s 15-month legal nightmare began, was clear.
Joseph Rosenbaum, a sociopath who raped five little boys, chased and cornered Rittenhouse, who shot and killed him with an AR-15 in self-defense.
Career criminal “Jump Kick Man” kicked Rittenhouse in the face; Rittenhouse fired twice to back him off.
Convicted strangler Anthony Huber twice attacked Rittenhouse with a skateboard, a heavy deadly weapon. Rittenhouse shot and killed him in self-defense.
Repeat offender Gaige Grosskreutz, who illegally carried a firearm that night, pointed a Glock .40-caliber semi-auto at Rittenhouse, who shot him in the arm in self-defense.
Yet prosecutors answered the baying pack of leftist hounds who wanted Rittenhouse jailed, and filed six charges against him:
- first-degree reckless homicide for killing rapist Rosenbaum;
- first-degree intentional homicide for killing strangler Huber;
- attempted first-degree intentional homicide for shooting criminal Grosskreutz; and,
- two counts of recklessly endangering safety in the first degree for firing at career criminal Jump Kick Man, and in the direction of Daily Caller reporter Richie McGinnis, who was standing behind Rosenbaum when Rittenhouse fired.
Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed a charge of illegal possession of a firearm.
Rittenhouse faced life in prison, but again, the video left no doubt about what happened. Four communist criminals attacked Rittenhouse and would have killed him. He defended himself.
The Trial
The prosecution’s case quickly began falling apart, not least because its own witnesses confirmed that Rittenhouse fired in self-defense:
- Most notably, though he dissembled in his testimony, Grosskreutz was forced to admit that Rittenhouse didn’t shoot him until he, Grosskreutz, aimed his illegally-possessed Glock at Rittenhouse.
- The state’s medical examiner suggested that Joseph Rosenbaum, who attacked Rittenhouse first, must have reached for the then-17-year-old’s rifle. That testimony supports what an eyewitness told the jury last week.
- Jurors saw video of that shooting that clearly shows Rosenbaum lunging for Rittenhouse’s rifle.
- Witnesses testified that Rosenbaum was an unhinged lunatic threatening to kill people.
- A photographer who covered the riots testified that prosecutors pushed him to change his original statement to police.
Rittenhouse’s attorneys filed two motions for mistrial, one with prejudice, one without. They argued that prosecutors withheld video evidence, and suggested they were trying to provoke a mistrial so they could prosecute Rittenhouse again.
Schroeder didn’t rule on it, and wouldn’t have unless the jury had convicted.
Jury Intimidation Failed
To their credit, jurors ignored violent hate-Rittenhouse protesters, along with Twitter threats of mob violence if they did not convict.
But he never should have been charged. Everyone, including prosecutors and the hate-Rittenhouse Left, knew he defended himself. Prosecutors didn’t file charges and try Rittenhouse because they really thought Rittenhouse was guilty of the charges they filed. They filed charges and tried him because law-abiding Americans had to learn they are not allowed to protect their property from rioting communist mobs, or even from communists trying to kill them. The authorities didn’t stop the riots. And no one else will be permitted to do so.
That is why the hate-Rittenhouse Left had to lie; to say he “crossed state lines to shoot people,” that he was in a community where he did not belong, that he is a “racist” and “domestic terrorist.” Or, as President Brandon said, a “white supremacist.”
The trial going against them, prosecutors were left with the preposterous claim that Rittenhouse provoked those who attacked him. He took a gun to a “fistfight.”
Rittenhouse didn’t take a gun to a fistfight.
He took a gun to an out-of-control riot — egged on by leftist politicians and their leftist media information ministry — that state and local officials refused to stop. A 17-year-old kid did what elected officials and police refused to do.
He didn’t take a gun to a “mostly peaceful protest.” He took a gun into the middle of a communist insurrection to help protect business going up in flames. He used it to defend himself when the mob attacked.
The jury saw that and acquitted him.
