Quick post on a current event – the Rittenhouse trial.
I’m not a legal scholar, and I’m sure there are plenty of those offering expert opinions. I can’t speak to the law better than any of them, so I won’t try. I acknowledge that statutory language matters, and that what seems clearly criminal to the layperson may not violate the tenets of a specific law. I’ll just opine on the undisputed facts, which are:
Rittenhouse shot three people and killed two (Rosenbaum, Huber, and Grosskreutz).
No one else shot or killed anyone in Kenosha that night.
Rittenhouse was not from Kenosha.
Rittenhouse was not protecting property that belonged to him or anyone he knew.
Rittenhouse responded to a non-lethal threat with lethal force.
The man he shot and wounded (Grosskreutz) had a pistol, but her never engaged Rittenhouse with the pistol.
Rittenhouse was a minor at the time of the shootings.
From a layperson’s perspective, I have a hard time seeing how someone from another state showing up armed to a protest is anything other than provocation. After he shot and killed the first unarmed man (Rosenbaum), the crowd pursued him in an attempt to subdue an active threat. So he shot two more people, ironically only wounding the one that was actually armed with a firearm.
For anyone watching, the trial looked like a complete shit-show, with a judge obviously biased toward the defendant. The prosecution managed to violate an edict or two from the judge, which didn’t help them out. I don’t know if he’ll be found guilty of any serious charges. It seems like he probably won’t. But he damned sure killed two unarmed men at a protest that he had no organic reason to be involved in. His presence was provocation. If that’s not criminal, then maybe the statutes need some work in Wisconsin. He won’t even be guilty of illegally possessing the firearm as minor, which is a misdemeanor offense, because the defense convinced the judge to throw out the charge.
I’ll cross my fingers that I am mistaken – that maybe he’ll be found guilty of something. Because I don’t want to live somewhere that underage vigilantes can kill me without repercussions.
The View from the Armchair 