November 19, 2021 02:20 PM UTC

Rittenhouse Verdict Societal Implications Thread

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• by: Colorado Pols

It’s the news dominating discussion as the cycle fades into the din of Thanksgiving week, so here’s a thread to discuss the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenage vigilante who everybody agrees killed two complete strangers in the street with a weapon he legally should not have possessed–and just got away with it. Washington Post:

President Biden on Friday called on Americans to respect the jury’s decision in the Rittenhouse trial, telling reporters that the system “works” and declining to discuss a previous tweet in which he appeared to suggest that Rittenhouse was a white supremacist.

“I stand by what the jury has concluded,” Biden said upon arriving back at the White House from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he underwent a routine colonoscopy. “The jury system works, and we have to abide by it.”

Later Friday, in a statement issued by the White House, Biden urged Americans to “express their views peacefully” and said that while the verdict “will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included, we must acknowledge that the jury has spoken.”

Although Rittenhouse has been acquitted of all the charges brought against him in state court, the fact that Rittenhouse crossed state lines to carry a weapon he wasn’t legally allowed to own could still result in federal charges:

This heartbreaking verdict is a miscarriage of justice and sets a dangerous precedent which justifies federal review by DOJ. Justice cannot tolerate armed persons crossing state lines looking for trouble while people engage in First Amendment-protected protest. https://t.co/Uh95Uc1Ddo

— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) November 19, 2021

Legitimizing a claim of “self-defense” in a situation where someone has put themselves directly in harm’s way with an illegal assault rifle almost guarantees future killings like those carried out by Kyle Rittenhouse. Rittenhouse’s acquittal on a claim of self-defense after traveling across state lines to roam the streets of Kenosha during a riot sets a precedent that could well inspire a dramatic increase in armed vigilante violence during future protests of all kinds. The open carry ban in Denver is all that prevents a similar situation playing out in Colorado’s largest city, as we saw last summer when an idiot at a racial justice protest in neighboring Aurora unloaded his openly-carried weapon at a passing vehicle injuring two fellow protesters.

One thing is sure: no good will come of this verdict. It rewards every kind of behavior society should not.