Not guilty : the twelve jurors of Kenosha, Wisconsin, acquitted, Friday, November 19, Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, a year after he killed two demonstrators with his AR-15 automatic rifle and injured a third during riots in this town, on the shores of Lake Michigan, on the night of Tuesday 25 to Wednesday 26 August 2020.
Six times Kyle Rittenhouse has heard the jury say ” not guilty “ on six counts, he flinched in emotion before hugging his lawyer, while the families of the victims were dismayed. All the American media then launched special editions, in this affair which divided the United States in the midst of an electoral campaign in the summer of 2020 and today tears it up on its judicial system and the right to use its weapon in the name self-defense.
“I stand by what the jury concluded. The jury system works and we must respect it ”, President Joe Biden immediately said before correcting the situation in a statement where he conceded that “Kenosha verdict leaves many Americans angry and worried, including me.”
The parents of one of the victims, Anthony Huber, killed at 26, lamented the “Unacceptable message” sent from Kenosha. “Today’s verdict means that there is no responsibility for the person who murdered our son. This sends the unacceptable message that armed civilians can show up in any city, incite violence, and then use the danger they created to justify shooting people in the streets. ”
The facts took place in the midst of the Black Lives Matter revolt: on Sunday 23 August 2020, in Kenosha, a white policeman shoots seven times in the back of an African-American, Jacob Blake, following an appeal for domestic violence. The filmed incident sparked riots in the small lakeside town, sowing desolation, with dozens of cars set on fire and buildings in the city center ransacked or even destroyed. Two days later, Tuesday, white militias armed to the teeth go to the city center, according to them to protect the city and its property, ready to do battle with protesters defending Jacob Blake.
Wisconsin’s complicated court system
Despite the police curfew, clashes soon broke out, and among the militiamen, a 17-year-old police worshiper, Kyle Rittenhouse, arrived with his gun, although he had none. the law, under the eyes of the local police who let him do it. The case led to chases and two deaths and one injured. The armed young man returns to the police, without being worried, and returns home quietly, before being arrested the next day. He was released on $ 2 million bail (1.77 million euros) paid by radical right activists.
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