Source: Pool / Getty
In a surprise to no one who has been paying attention when considering the USA’s Justice System, Kyle Rittenhouse has been acquitted on all charges. The scales were tipped in his favor by a judge who clearly wanted him to skate, and the jury clearly understood their assignment.
The jig was in full effect before the trial even started when the judge instructed that the two people Rittenhouse shot and killed during rioting in Kenosha, Washington couldn’t be called “victims.”
Reports NewsOne:
A jury deciding the fate of Kyle Rittenhouse delivered its verdict on Friday agreed that the then-17-year-old was simply defending himself from people in the Milwaukee suburb of Kenosha who the trial’s judge ruled could not be called “victims” in court despite graphic video evidence to the contrary. The panel of Rittenhouse’s peers that was “overwhelmingly white” reached its verdict after more than 24 hours of deliberating after the prosecution and defense made their closing arguments on Monday afternoon to conclude a trial that lasted just over two weeks.
Rittenhouse, now 18, collapsed in apparent relief after hearing the fifth and final count of the verdict as audible gasps and sobbing could be heard from others in attendance. After Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce E. Schroeder said all charges were being dismissed with prejudice and announced the official end of the trial, Rittenhouse walked quickly out of the courtroom.
Twitter’s response has been what you have to expect—little surprise at the result considering the context, but anger at the fact that if Rittenhouse was a Black teen, he would have been under the jail already, if he had even made it out of Kenosha alive.
Peep some of the reactions below. And just because he was acquitted, it doesn’t mean Rittenhouse is innocent, at all.
1. Plies nails it.
3. Chill…
11. Chris Hayes has lost the plot…
