Kyle Rittenhouse crossed state lines and used an illegally purchased assault rifle to confront racial justice protesters who had been demonized and made out to be a threat by far-right politicians, commentators, and media outlets.
The protest that Rittenhouse felt compelled to confront was over the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man shot multiple times by police outside of a family function. The “threat” perceived by Rittenhouse and the other armed white vigilantes who took to the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin on August 25, 2020 – many of whom were associated with the militia movement – was people speaking out against structural white supremacy and the disregard for Black lives.
The jury's verdict further enables that white supremacy and will be seen as tacit encouragement by our criminal justice system for racially-inspired white mob violence.
Add your name to call for the Department of Justice to conduct an investigation into Kyle Rittenhouse's actions and the circumstances that led to the death and injury of people while they were exercising their first Amendment Rights.
