Leaders, activists react to Rittenhouse not guilty verdict
Many on social media are expressing a lack of surprise due to the killer having complexion for protection.
Hollywood, the media, political leaders, and influencers are reacting to the not guilty verdicts in the Kyle Rittenhouse case.
Many on social media are expressing a lack of surprise due to Rittenhouse having a complexion for protection.
LeVar Burton tweeted, “Tell me again there are not two kinds [of] justice in America.”
D.L. Hughley added, “#KyleRittenhouse will be a cop in 3 years! #TeamDl”
Bubba Wallace commented, “Ha, let the boy be black and it would’ve been life…hell he would’ve had his life taken before the bullsh*t trial.. sad”
“Watch this kid become not only a hero to segments of the right but watch him become emboldened, appear on Rogan, puff himself up, get in bar fights, murder again,” tweeted Billions co-creator Brian Koppelman.
One Twitter user noted the international reaction to the verdict, tweeting “If you need any additional evidence that this is a transnational violent far-right movement: In about 20 minutes, I was able to find people celebrating the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict in 6 different countries (esp. Canada). So don’t assume the effects won’t cross borders.”
Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges Friday after pleading self-defense in the deadly Kenosha shootings last year, theGrio previously reported.
Rittenhouse, 18, cried and hugged one of his attorneys upon hearing the verdict.
He had been charged with homicide, attempted homicide, and reckless endangering after killing two men and wounding a third with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle during a tumultuous night of protests over police violence against Black people in the summer of 2020. The former police youth cadet is white, as were those he shot.
The jury, which appeared to be overwhelmingly white, deliberated for close to 3 1/2 days.
Rittenhouse could have gotten life in prison if found guilty on the most serious charge, first-degree intentional homicide, or what some other states call first-degree murder.
“It was clear from the beginning that Kyle Rittenhouse acted in lawful self-defense,” tweeted CPAC’s Mercedes Schlapp. “Against the wishes of the media, Democrats in Congress, and liberal blue checks on Twitter who defamed him, Kyle will spend Thanksgiving with his family as a free man. Justice has prevailed.”
Following the verdict, Candace Owens, who has called on Rittenhouse to sue the “liberal media” for lying about him, was quick to tweet her reaction, writing: “The criminal mob corporate enterprise that is masquerading as a movement concerned about black lives— FAILS. Justice wins the day.”
The family of Anthony Huber, one of the people Rittenhouse killed, said the not guilty verdict: “sends the unacceptable message that armed civilians can show up in any town, incite violence, and then use the danger they have created to justify shooting people in the street.”
Famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump released the following statement following the not guilty verdict:
“If you needed yet another example of the two justice systems at work in America, look no further than the delayed arrest, spectacle of a trial, and acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse. Rittenhouse, a self-declared white nationalist, crossed state lines with an unlawfully possessed AR-15 to be an instigator and provocateur in the anti-racism protests in Kenosha. By the end of the night, he had killed two people and left others injured in his wake. And instead of being arrested on the spot by law enforcement, he walked away scot-free.
“From the outset, this case has pulled back the curtain on the profound cracks in our justice system – from the deep bias routinely and unabashedly displayed by the judge, to the apathy of officers who witnessed Rittenhouse’s crimes and did nothing. If we were talking about a Black man, the conversation and outcome would be starkly different.
“But we’re not…we’re talking about Kyle Rittenhouse, a racist, homicidal vigilante who, like so many white men before him, not only escaped accountability, but laughed in its face. Today, I pray for the victims, I pray for our country, I pray for our children and grandchildren, and I pray that this travesty of a case is an outlier on our path to a more just system, and not a signal of retreat backwards. Because, we simply can’t afford it.”
Check out additional Twitter reactions below.
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