Matt Bush, FISM News
Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, was found not guilty on all five charges brought against him mid-day Friday. The jury was composed of five men and seven women who deliberated for about 25 hours over 4 days before returning with a not guilty verdict.
Rittenhouse was on trial for killing two men, Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and shooting a third, Gaige Grosskreutz, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, among other charges. The events happened almost 15 months ago during intense riots and protests on August 25, 2020, stemming from a police shooting with the officer being white and the man who was shot being black.
Due to the nature of the events surrounding the Rittenhouse trial, the story became about more than just Rittenhouse defending himself and others. It became about race, gun rights, and a person’s ability to defend themselves and others from harm.
The defense asserted that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense – that he was there to protect others, to offer his services to those who might be harmed, and to make sure that people were safe during an unsafe and unstable time. Rittenhouse’s attorney argued, successfully, that Rittenhouse only acted in self-defense when his life was endangered.
Prosecutors, on the other hand, tried to paint Rittenhouse as a vigilante with a gun – that he was a hunter, chasing down “victims” that were not a threat to him or others.
Throughout the highly publicized hearing, one thing was clear this was not a case of one man’s word against another’s. There was a video of the entire ordeal. Anyone could find video of that night’s events, and the video was shown to the jury.
Rittenhouse also took the stand himself and testified that he felt his life was threatened and that there was an immediate and real possibility that he would be hurt.
A Fox News article quotes a spokesperson for the Rittenhouse family as stating, “Justice was done” with the not guilty verdict. While an NBC article quotes Anthony Huber’s parents as saying, “Today’s verdict means there is no accountability for the person who murdered our son.”
These two parallel accounts of the trial show the political nature that this case took. A young man’s life hung in the balance, and instead of people coming together to try and understand what truly happened, it became about race, guns, and conservatives versus liberals. The severity of this division has caused Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers to deploy 500 National Guard troops to the area, and many jurors are afraid to show their faces.
In the end, the jury and judge were convinced of Rittenhouse’s innocence. Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder was quoted as saying, “I couldn’t have asked for a better jury to work with,” and then, “It’s truly been my pleasure … just in terms of your attentiveness and the cooperation that you gave to us.” He closed by saying, “It justifies the confidence that the founders of our country placed in you.”
Now all there is left to do is see what happens next. This trial has happened in tandem with the Ahmaud Arbery trial, so racial tensions are high. Hopefully, cooler heads prevail and America is spared more racially charged riots and the verdict can prompt a step forward towards healing.