SecondThis is an explosive sentence: 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse shot and killed two demonstrators and seriously injured a third during an anti-racism protest in Kenosha, USA , His trial ended in innocence. The jury acquitted the 17-year-old on all charges on Friday. The verdict in the politically charged process was immediately sharply criticized, but it was also recognized.America president Joe Biden Call for calm.
The Rittenhouse family, armed with semi-automatic rifles, drove to Kenosha, Wisconsin in August 2020 and met with armed men there. They said they wanted to protect the business from looters. After a policeman wounded Jacob Blake, an African-American with multiple shots in the back, there had been protests in the city before, some of which were violent.
In the chaotic scene, Rittenhouse shot and killed two people, seriously wounding a third. Rittenhouse is white, and so are his victims. His lawyer argued in court that the young man was acting in self-defense because he was attacked by protesters.
The video record shows how a man hit Rittenhouse with a skateboard. A man injured by Rittenhouse admitted in court that he himself pointed a gun at the boy.
Public prosecutor: self-proclaimed “auxiliary police” and provocateur
The prosecutor said that Rittenhouse claimed to be an “auxiliary policeman” and that he provoked the violence himself. He should not go to Kenosha with an assault rifle.
After four days of deliberation, the jury announced that the 18-year-old was guilty of murder, manslaughter, attempted murder and endangering others. After the verdict, Rittenhouse began to sob and collapsed.
Fear of violent protest
This process is politically charged because it is related to last year’s “Black People’s Fate” protests.of Release Von Rittenhouse has become a puppet in the right-wing circles, and has thus aroused fear of violent protests. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers dispatched 500 National Guard members to get ready.
US President Joe Biden called for acceptance of the jury’s verdict, but at the same time kept his distance from the acquittal. “Although Kenosha’s ruling made many Americans-including me-feel angry and worried, we must admit that the jury has spoken.”
Biden warned against violent protests: People must express their opinions “peacefully” and abide by the law. “Violence and property destruction have no place in our democracy,” the president said.
Unfair justice or unfair justice?
Sharp criticism of the verdict came from anti-guns and civil rights organizations, who talked about “judicial injustice” and “cartoons.” New York Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio described Rittenhouse’s acquittal as “disgusting”: “To call it a miscarriage is an understatement.”
On the other hand, conservative politicians welcomed the acquittal. Republican Senator Ron Johnson said, “Justice has been done.”
After the fatal shooting, President Donald Trump stood behind Rittenhouse: The right-wing populist said he was “in big trouble” because the demonstrators “violently attacked” him: “He may be Was killed.”
In the United States, after the death of African American George Floyd in a brutal police operation and further incidents of police violence against blacks, anti-racist protests have taken place across the country in the past year Activity. Trump accused left-wing groups like Antifa of repeated riots.
