Kenosha Shooter Kyle Rittenhouse Has Been Exempted Of All Counts

Kyle Rittenhouse, the 18-year-old who shot dead two men and injured a third during protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer, is found not guilty on five counts of murder and other charges after three days of deliberations by a jury.

Over several days of emotional testimony, Rittenhouse claimed that he had acted reasonably in self-defense, and on Friday, the (predominantly white) jury appeared to accept his argument, despite being shown drone videos from Rittenhouse shot three men—Gaige Grosskreutz, Anthony Huber, and Joseph Rosenbaum—with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle. Lawyers for the Rosenbaum and Grosskreutz estates released a statement calling for peace instead of violence and said, “What we need right now is justice, not more violence. While today’s ruling may mean justice is delayed, it doesn’t mean justice is denied.” President Joe Biden was asked about the Rittenhouse ruling by reporters on Friday, responding, “I stand by what the jury said. The jury system is working, and we have to comply with it.”

Rittenhouse’s trials are increasing politically polarized in recent weeks, with some conservatives adopting the Illinois teenager as an avatar of vigilante justice and gun rights and liberals presenting his release as yet another example of the legal system’s favoritism towards whites. Congressman Jerry Nadler, D-New York, called for a federal review of the case after the verdict was announced, tweeting, “This heartbreaking ruling is a failure of justice and sets a dangerous precedent that justifies a federal review by the DOJ. Justice cannot tolerate armed people crossing state lines seeking trouble while people are involved in First Amendment protected protests.”

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