Uproar in U.S, as all-white jury acquits youth charged for killing two Black Lives Matter protesters
Americans have taken to social media to blast the ruling after a jury cleared Kyle Rittenhouse of charges he faced for killing two men and shooting a third at a Black Lives Matter protest last August.
Rittenhouse, a former police cadet and Trump supporter, was 17 at the time of the shooting. He had crossed state lines from Antioch, Illinois to Kenosha, Wisconsin on August 25, picked up an illegally obtained AR15 rifle from a friend’s stepfather; then began to guard a car dealership from demonstrators out after the curfew imposed at the time, the New Zealand Herald reports.
When a confrontation broke out, the teen fired his gun at a group of people appearing to chase him; killing 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum. Shortly after, he shot and killed 26-year-old Anthony Huber, and injured Gaige Grosskreutz, who was also 26.
Hailed a hero at the time by some and defended by then-president Donald Trump, Rittenhouse was charged days later with, among other things, first-degree intentional homicide.
Throughout his two-week trial — which began earlier this month; Rittenhouse and his lawyers argued that he acted in self-defence,; adding that he only pulled the trigger on those who provoked him during the protests.
And overnight, the almost “completely white jury” acquitted him on all counts.
Reacting to the news, a number of Americans pointed out that had Rittenhouse been a black teenager; he may not have been acquitted.
Also reacting to his acquittal, Rittenhouse was quoted as saying: “The jury reached the correct verdict. Self-defense is not illegal. And I believe they came to the correct verdict and I’m glad that everything went well.”
