OK. I just gotta weigh in with another thought about Kyle Rittenhouse before I move on to, oh, something else.
The young man heard about this protest occurring in Kenosha, Wis. What did he do? He got into his car and drove from neighboring Pleasant Prairie to the city on the Lake Michigan shore. He had an AR-15 and some ammo that he had put into the magazine.
He pranced along the street with the weapon and shot two men to death. Rittenhouse was arrested and charged with murder. He pleaded not guilty and went to trial, where he claimed — while sobbing — that he shot the men while defending himself against their attack on him. Self-defense, he said.
The jury believed him. Rittenhouse’s legal team did a stellar job of making him something of a sympathetic character. To be honest, it looked to me — based on what I heard and read — that the defense team out-lawyered the prosecutors.
So, young Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted.
I am still struck by the notion that he went to Kenosha in the first place as a 17-year-old looking to mix it up with protesters complaining about police brutality against African-Americans. He found what he seemed to be looking for; two men paid the price for their encounter with Rittenhouse.
I’ll accept the jury’s verdict, not because I necessarily endorse the defense narrative he delivered. I accept the verdict because I have a strong belief in our jury trial system.
However, if the kid had just stayed home and not rushed onto the Kenosha streets with that AR-15. He went looking for trouble and he found it.
I am out!