We can galvanize around changing our culture, including challenging the difference in how a Black male teen would have been engaged in Kenosha.” “The verdict in the #KyleRittenhouse case is a travesty and fails to deliver justice on behalf of those who lost their lives as they peacefully assembled to protest against police brutality and violence,” tweeted the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) civil rights group.īernice King, a church minister and daughter of the murdered civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr, said on Twitter: “Justice is not just about verdicts. People protest against the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict in New York.
“While the verdict in Kenosha will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included, we must acknowledge that the jury has spoken.”īiden added: “I know that we’re not going to heal our country’s wounds overnight, but I remain steadfast in my commitment to do everything in my power to ensure that every American is treated equally, with fairness and dignity, under the law.” In a later statement Biden appealed for calm and said he had spoken to local authorities in Wisconsin to offer any help needed to ensure public safety. Joe Biden said: “I stand by what the jury has concluded.” The US president told reporters: “The jury system works. Meanwhile, politicians and public figures shared their views on the verdict. Video circulating on social media showed large crowds peacefully gathered in Brooklyn and on the Manhattan Bridge to protest the acquittal. But hours after the jury came back, there were no signs of any major protests or unrest in Kenosha.ĭemonstrators were seen taking to the streets in New York. Racial justice advocates had said any verdict will not resolve long-simmering racial tensions in the city that boiled over last August, but that Kenosha needed to find a way forward.Īhead of the verdict, the state’s governor, Tony Evers, announced that 500 National Guard members stood ready in case of trouble. Photograph: Tannen Maury/EPAĪdelana Akindes, a 26-year-old activist who grew up in Kenosha and is suing the city over law enforcement’s treatment of her while she was protesting, has decried “ two sets of laws” in America – “one that applies to those who protest police brutality and racism, and another for those who support the police”. Justin Blake, Jacob Blake’s uncle, leaves the Kenosha county courthouse after the jury returned a not guilty verdict for Kyle Rittenhouse. His nephew was paralysed from the waist down when a white police officer, Rusten Sheskey, shot him in the back seven times as he attempted to apprehend him next to his car. Justin Blake, Jacob Blake’s uncle, has said the past year has been “ a living hell” for his family. Outside the courthouse on Friday afternoon, supporters of Jacob Blake and Black Lives Matter faced off with supporters of Rittenhouse and angry words were exchanged after the 18-year-old was acquitted.
He was also charged with the illegal possession of a dangerous weapon by a minor, but the judge dropped that count against him during the trial. But the case focused attention on questions of racial justice, unequal policing, and firearms rights, often sitting at the heart of America’s increasingly bitter partisan divide.Ĭlaiming self-defense, Rittenhouse had pleaded not guilty to the homicide and attempted homicide charges and also to two charges of recklessly endangering safety, for firing his weapon near others. Rittenhouse is white, as were the men he shot. Others testified that Rittenhouse was pursued by the men he shot dead and the teenager, who testified in his own defence, told the jury he was in fear of his life when he fired his gun.
KYLE RITTENHOUSE FOUND NOT GUILTY TRIAL
They claimed to be protecting property and acting as informal medics and unofficial security after some businesses had been destroyed when demonstrations against the police shooting spilled over on the fringes into violence after dark.Ī turning point in the trial came when Grosskreutz testified for the prosecution but admitted that he pointed a gun at Rittenhouse before the 17-year-old fired his rifle, hitting him in the arm. He was 17 when he came to Kenosha from his home in Illinois in August 2020, and began patrolling the streets, staying out after curfew, with the apparent approval of some of the police officers on duty at the time, who handed out water to the groups of armed civilian men milling about.
Kyle Rittenhouse’s mother, Wendy Rittenhouse, reacts with relief as her son is found not guilty on Friday.
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