Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges in Kenosha shootings

By Benjamin Yount and Dan McCaleb | The Center Square

A jury found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty Friday on all five counts against him in the 2020 shootings that killed two men and injured another during rioting in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Rittenhouse shook and broke down in tears as the not guilty verdicts were being read, one by one.

Judge Bruce Schroeder ordered him released from custody.

Wikimedia Commons

A Kyle Rittenhouse supporter in Kenosha, Wisconsin, expresses his support of the 18-year-old who was found not guilty of two self-defense shootings during the local 2020 riots.

Rittenhouse, 18, faced life in prison if he was convicted of the most serious count, first degree reckless homicide. Throughout the trial, Rittenhouse and his defense attorneys argued self defense.

Rittenhouse also was acquitted of first degree intentional homicide, two counts of first degree recklessly endangering safety and attempted first degree intentional homicide.

The shootings occurred during Kenosha’s final night of violence in August 2020 in the wake of a police shooting of Jacob Blake, who is Black. A Kenosha police officer shot and wounded Blake on Aug. 23, 2020. Police were trying to arrest Blake that day for violating an order of protection. He was at his ex-girlfriend’s home. She had accused Blake of sexual assault not long before.

Rioting broke out in Kenosha in the nights after the police shooting.

Rittenhouse, an Illinois resident who was 17 at the time, said he and a friend traveled to Kenosha to protect local businesses from rioters and provide medical assistance to anyone needing it during the unrest. Armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and injured Gaige Grosskreut.

Rittenhouse said the men attacked him and he was acting in self-defense. The case drew national attention and spurred debate about the protests and riots, and what constitutes self defense.

Rittenhouse took the stand last week and said he fired only because he feared for his life. Video from the scene showed Rosenbaum chasing Rittenhouse through a parking lot and throwing a plastic bag at him. Shortly after the Rosenbaum shooting, video showed Rittenhouse running and tripping. Huber lunged at Rittenhouse and swung a skateboard at his head. Grosskreutz admitted on the stand that he pointed his handgun at Rittenhouse before Rittenhouse shot and injured Grosskreutz.

Prosecutors argued that Rittenhouse lost his claim to self defense because he showed up in Kenosha on that night with a rifle.

Rittenhouse’s lawyers said it was legal for Rittenhouse to have the rifle, and argued it was illegal for the crowd to attack Rittenhouse.

On Monday, Schroeder dismissed a misdemeanor charge of illegal possession of a weapon by a person under 18 against Rittenhouse.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers ordered 500 National Guard troops to be ready to move into Kenosha if protests or violence break out as a result of the verdict.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

11 thoughts on “Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges in Kenosha shootings

  1. This article says it all. Since the main stream media can lie and make up the narrative that supports their ideology, does anyone believe that they couldn’t possibly lie about Covid-19 or the injections being pushed on unknowing and trusting Americans too lazy to check anything on their own? The same goes for the Rittenhouse lies brought to you by your lying media. Read this article for truth, an excellent article on the media’s mob justice.

    https://thebluestateconservative.com/2021/11/21/six-things-we-learned-from-the-kyle-rittenhouse-trial/

  2. Most of us ordinary folks got our news about this trial from the usual media sources, some biased. The 12 unanimous jurors got their information in the courtroom, by the stringent rules of a criminal trial. When someone is facing murder charges for an undisputed killing and is using an imminent threat self-defense argument, it is almost as if the normal presumption of innocence is denied them. It is entirely up to the defense to convince a jury that 2 conditions were satisfied: that the defendant was in imminent threat of serious bodily harm and that he was acting lawfully and in a place he had a lawful right to be. That can not be said for those who presented the threat to him. This jury was put under tremendous pressure by some grossly irresponsible media organizations to render a guilty verdict to prevent further unrest. TWELVE UNANIMOUS !!!!!!

  3. President Trump Congratulates Kyle Rittenhouse on Not Guilty Verdict
    By Kristinn Taylor Published November 19, 2021 at 5:40pm
    “President Trump issued a statement Friday afternoon congratulating Kyle Rittenhouse on being acquitted on all counts in his murder trial in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Trump’s comment comes as both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have criticized the verdict, with Biden saying in a statement he is “angry and concerned.”
    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/11/president-trump-congratulates-kyle-rittenhouse-not-guilty-verdict/

  4. WCAX news this morning reported that Vermonters weighed in on the verdict and the only interview was from a UVM female student who displayed disappointment with the jury’s decision. I guess that they keep asking until they get the answer that fits the liberal narrative. The best curve ball was the report that said that Rittenhouse murdered 2 and wounded 1 at a black lives matter rally. Pravda would report closer to the truth than our liberal fake news media.

    • Thanks for exposing this completely unwatchable fake news station. Heres the real story you wont see reported anywhere in this forsaken state.
      “That night, Rittenhouse and a group of armed volunteers were guarding a car dealership that had been torched the night before. After Rittenhouse put out a fire, he was chased by a rioter named James Rosenbaum, who reached for Rittenhouse’s AR-15-style rifle. Rittenhouse fired four times, hitting Rosenbaum and wounding him mortally. The shots also nearly hit Daily Caller journalist Richie McGinniss, who was covering the riots, though he was ultimately not wounded.

      A crowd then gave chase as Rittenhouse attempted to flee toward police officers. He was struck in the head with a rock by an unknown assailant and kicked in the face by someone referred to as “Jump Kick Man,” whom Rittenhouse then shot at but missed. A rioter named Anthony Huber then hit Rittenhouse in the head and neck with a skateboard, and reached for the rifle; Rittenhouse fired one shot, killing him. Another rioter, Gaige Grosskreutz, who was armed with a pistol, raised his hands above his head, then charged Rittenhouse with his gun pointed at him. Rittenhouse fired, wounding Grosskreutz in the arm.

      Corporate media and Democratic politicians such as then-candidate Joe Biden called Rittenhouse a “white supremacist” and described the violence as if he had set out to kill peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters.”

  5. Kudos to the jurists who brought the correct verdict in spite of the leftist mob threats..
    This is a big nail in the coffin of mob rule and antifa/blm unfettered violence egged on by the mainslime media.. Hopefully Kyle and Nick Sandmann will now be the new
    owners of cnn and bankrupt msnbc…
    Also his list of defamation suits should be the idiot in chief who called him a White
    Supremacist when in actuality he was a patriot taking out the pedo/rapist/criminal trash… A big win in the war on leftist commies for sure…

  6. I’m following the news this evening and watching the gathering and marching crowds in large cities, and I get the feeling that we haven’t heard the last about this verdict from the fake media, the ignorant BLM mob, or the ‘woke’ politicians that always rush to judgement and fan the flames of hate and malice…

  7. A stunning loss for mob rule and the slanderous media and a win for self defense and the people. God Bless America! And FJB for calling this young man a white supremacist before any facts were even known.

  8. Of course he was acquitted,the charges should have never been brought,Leftist’s have to come to the reality that self defense is a natural right.

Comments are closed.