The day Rittenhouse was arrested, Democratic U.S. Rittenhouse went back home, turning himself into police the next day. Video then shows Rittenhouse walking toward police with his hands up, his rifle slung over his shoulder, as protesters yell that he has just shot people. In the ensuing minutes, Rittenhouse - pursued by other protesters - shot and killed Anthony Huber, who swung a skateboard at him, and shot and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, who had stepped toward Rittenhouse with a pistol in hand. Later in the evening, video shows a man named Joseph Rosenbaum chasing Rittenhouse in the parking lot of a used car dealership seconds later, Rittenhouse shoots and kills him. Video also shows police appearing to welcome Rittenhouse and other armed citizens, including handing them bottles of water. Videos taken that night show him with a first-aid kit at his side, along with his rifle, bragging about his medical abilities. At least one call had gone out on social media for armed citizens to respond, though Rittenhouse’s attorneys say that wasn’t what brought Rittenhouse to the city. Rittenhouse made the 20-mile (32-kilometer) trip from his home in Antioch, Illinois, north to Kenosha as the city was in the throes of several nights of chaotic demonstrations after an officer shot Jacob Blake in the back following a domestic disturbance. “I’m worried about empowering more actors like him who think it’s glamorous to go kill somebody with a rifle,” Busse said. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in an assassination attempt in 2011, said he’s worried that Rittenhouse will become “some heroic martyr.” Ryan Busse, a former firearms industry executive who is now a senior adviser at the gun-safety organization Giffords, which was founded by former U.S. A website devoted to his defense - and raising money for it - greets visitors with a quote attributed to James Monroe: “The right of self-defense never ceases.” The site blasts “Big Tech, a corrupt media, and dishonest politicians” out to “ruin the life of Kyle Rittenhouse.” The site briefly sold branded “Free Kyle” merchandise before vendors backed away. Rittenhouse’s defenders, including his family, have leaned into some of the symbolism. In many ways, the key question at trial is simple: Was Rittenhouse acting in self-defense? Plentiful video exists of the events in question, and legal experts see a strong case for that.The judge overseeing the trial, Bruce Schroeder, has said forcefully that it “is not going to be a political trial.”īut the case has been exactly that, almost from the moment the shootings happened - driven by powerful interest groups, extremists, politicians and others using it to push their own agendas. “It’s another battle in what has become the central story of our time - the culture wars,” John Baick, who teaches modern American history at Western New England University in Springfield, Massachusetts, said. Rittenhouse, now 18, faces several charges, including homicide - and could see a life sentence if convicted. That division is likely to be on display at Rittenhouse’s trial, which opens Monday with jury selection. Though Rittenhouse and all three men he shot are white, many people saw racism at the heart of Kenosha - an armed white teen, welcomed by police to a city where activists were rallying against a white officer’s shooting of a Black man, and allowed to walk past a police line immediately after shooting three people. Others saw him as the most worrisome example yet of vigilante citizens taking to the streets with guns, often with the tacit support of police - a “chaos tourist,” in the words of the lead prosecutor, who came to Kenosha looking for trouble. He was championed by pro-gun conservatives who said he was exercising his Second Amendment rights and defending cities from “antifa,” an umbrella term for leftist militants. The 17-year-old from Illinois who carried an AR-style rifle and idolized police was cheered by those who despised the Black Lives Matter movement and the sometimes destructive protests that followed George Floyd’s death. (AP) - From the moment Kyle Rittenhouse shot three people on the streets of Kenosha during protests over the police shooting of a Black man, he’s personified America’s polarization.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |