“You lose the right to self-defense when you’re the one who brought the gun, when you are the one creating the danger, when you’re the one provoking other people,” Deputy Dist. Prosecutors portrayed Rittenhouse as a calculating gunman - at times describing him as an “active shooter” - who roamed the streets of Kenosha looking to spark violence. Instead, it had to decide the much narrower question of whether he was acting in self-defense each time he pulled the trigger. The jury was not considering whether Rittenhouse should have been on the streets of Kenosha with a rifle. “It now gives people the sense they can run around with rifles and shoot people in chaotic situations,” he said. Phil Haney, a 78-year-old Kenosha resident, one of several dozen people who gathered outside the courthouse for the verdicts, said he was left “speechless.” “A 17-year-old taking an AR-15 into a tense situation is a recipe for trouble,” he said. I wish everyone would condemn what Rittenhouse did even though he was acquitted of a crime. “We are at such a tense time in our society. “I worry that some will portray Rittenhouse as a hero and that it will encourage vigilantism,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Berkeley School of Law. Though President Biden and other politicians said that the jury’s decision must be respected, some expressed concern that the verdict could send a dangerous message. Many others had argued that Rittenhouse had courted violence by bringing an AR-style semiautomatic rifle to the Kenosha protests. It’s called being found NOT GUILTY - And by the way, if that’s not self-defense, nothing is!” Trump also released a statement: “Congratulations to Kyle Rittenhouse for being found INNOCENT of all charges.
#Did kyle rittenhouse gun jam free
“We hope that Kyle will now be allowed to live a free and prosperous life, and that all Americans will understand that the 2nd Amendment isn’t about hunting - it’s about the right to defend oneself from tyranny and lawless criminal actors.” “Self-defense is a God-given right, and Kyle defended himself,” said a statement by Dudley Brown, executive director of the National Foundation for Gun Rights in Loveland, Colo. Then-President Trump refused to condemn the shootings and suggested Rittenhouse was acting in self-defense - the argument that Rittenhouse’s attorneys used to win his case.īackers of Rittenhouse celebrated the verdict as a victory for the right of Americans to use firearms to protect themselves and their property. Some supporters even donned new tattoos of the teenager. Rittenhouse became an instant celebrity among right-wing groups, who called him a patriot and a “good guy with a gun.” They raised money - paying a large portion of his $2-million bail - and created mural images of him that flooded social media. The August 2020 shootings came amid the racial justice demonstrations that swept the nation following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
#Did kyle rittenhouse gun jam trial
It took the jurors - seven women and five men - 3½ days to reach their decision inside a downtown Kenosha courthouse, a capstone to a two-week trial that reignited the charged politics of the Trump era. Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the killings, faced charges including intentional homicide and reckless endangerment.
Kyle Rittenhouse, a teenager who shot and killed two men and wounded another as violent protests against police brutality engulfed Kenosha last year, was acquitted of all charges Friday in a closely watched case that has amplified bitter national debate over guns, vigilantism and law and order.Īs the verdict was read for each count, the 18-year-old quivered, sobbed and - on the fifth and final “not guilty” - fell to his knees. Kyle Rittenhouse breaks down after the verdicts are read in court in Kenosha, Wis.
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