On Friday, November the 19th after more than 26 hours of jury deliberation, defendant Kyle Rittenhouse was exonerated of all charges concerning the deaths of two men and the injury of a third during the Kenosha Wisconsin riots of August 2020.
This is a story about a young man who was a firefighter cadet, a law enforcement cadet, a YMCA lifeguard and a paramedic. A young man that defended his own life while being kicked in the head by a rioter and felon convicted of domestic violence and rape; a young man who defended his own life while being beaten with a skateboard again by a rioter and felon convicted of child sexual assault of five victims between the age of 9 and 11 and by defending his own life once again against a felon and rioter convicted of burglary and multiple weapons charges who was pointing an illegally possessed handgun at his head.
Rittenhouse, often described as a vigilante had been invited to help defend several local car lots and a family owned service station from potential rioters and looters. We all witnessed the events of that week, the burning of businesses, police cars and neighborhoods; the looting of businesses all in the name of civil rights. Rittenhouse arrived in Kenosha on the third day from only a few miles away where his father lived. He arrived with his AR15 semi auto rifle and his medical bag where he joined other armed civilians protecting their businesses and neighborhoods.
The once so called peaceful protest had evolved into riots, looting and anarchy, all brought about by the shooting of a black man by the name of Blake by an officer named Sheskey. Just for information, it is noted that Officer Sheskey was not prosecuted for any wrong doing as announced in January 2021 by prosecutors in Kenosha. Testimony and amateur video showed that Rittenhouse initially was chased by an erratic Joseph Rosenbaum, the first felon previously mentioned and was shot and killed at close range after attempting to assault Rittenhouse. Rittenhouse fled the first shooting while being pursued by the second and third felons where he shot the second felon while lying on his back as he was swung at with a skateboard and then shot the third felon who was pointing an illegal handgun at Rittenhouse's head.
Throughout the two weeks of trial, the liberal media continually shared false information to sway the verdict, to intimidate the jurors and to promote their own liberal agenda. MSNBC's Joe Scarborough claimed Rittenhouse had fired more than 60 rounds while it appears less than a half dozen were actually fired. CNN reported that Rittenhouse had driven more than four hours to get to the riots yet his weapon was stored and his father lived only a short distance away. Rittenhouse' attorney said,”it makes me angry that the media can't take time to get the generic basic facts correct because it doesn't fit in the story the media want to tell”.
After the verdict was announced, the word “defamation” was highly trending on twitter. Many media outlets and journalist labeled Rittenhouse as a mass murderer or worse may now face defamation lawsuits. Also included with the media were elected officials including President Biden who labeled Rittenhouse as a White Supremacist as did many so called legal experts, athletes and reporters.
Even fake Hispanic Beto O'Rourke, a recently announced candidate for Texas Governor in an interview with CNN's Dana Bash again suggested that, “ this entire tragedy makes the case we should not allow Americans to own weapons designed for the battlefield”. Bash followed the interview with the old Beto clip declaring “Hell Yes, we are going to take your AR15's and AK47's”.On the same topic, a Virginia police officer was fired from his job because he donated $25 to the Rittenhouse defense fund when his anonymous donation data was hacked and released to the public. Also, the well known GO FUND ME platform took down the defense donation request for Rittenhouse because they don't accept funds for criminal defense yet they had no problem taking bail funds for the West Coast Rioters. In fact, public records indicate that GO FUND ME staff donated $500 to the looters bail fundraiser. It seems the liberal left wing social media and their associated groups have no objections to rioters, looters and felons but not for a squeaky clean young man who defended his own life with a firearm.
Donald Trump once called the main stream media, “The Enemy of the People”. The media have the power to root out and expose crime and corruption by the powerful, to inform the public about real dangers and to protect Americans from tyranny. However, when mass media promotes falsehoods, they not only misinform, they endanger society.
Terry Harper
State Republican Executive Committee
Senate District 21 Chairman
