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Rittenhouse found innocent

WED. | 12-29-21 | OPINION

     On Aug. 25, 2020, disaster struck in Kenosha, Wisconsin when 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse shot and killed two people who were part of a Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest. This started a controversial court case that was just recently resolved and caused a lot of debate throughout America.

     Following the shooting of a black male named Jacob Blake by a white police officer, protests had been going through the town of Kenosha to try and bring justice to Blake’s untimely death. According to an NBC Chicago writer, there had reportedly been videos of a group that was against these protests patrolling the streets at night. Among this “vigilante” group was Rittenhouse. He appeared at the protest and shot three people, all in their 20’s and 30’s, killing two of them and hospitalizing the third. He was recently brought to court on the charge of murder, with one side defending him and saying he shot in self-defense and the other side saying he murdered the three people in cold blood.

     There has been a lot of controversy and debate caused by this trial. There are some people that I believe are framing him as a hero for killing two people because the shooting was during a BLM protest, a topic that has a lot of debate behind it. People on social media keep trying to find loopholes and reasons for why Rittenhouse should be proven innocent, and all the different posts and opinions that have been presented make it difficult to know what is true anymore and what isn’t. Other people believe that he had no just reason to kill those two people and he should be put in jail.

     Ever since the trial began on Nov. 15, there has been unrest about what might happen on social media, news and schools. People have been learning 

KYLE RITTENHOUSE.png

Graphic by Jake Bradsher

about the case and theorizing on what might happen to Rittenhouse. After multiple days of discussion from the jury, a decision on the case was made on Friday, Nov. 19. The jury ruled that Kyle Rittenhouse was innocent on all charges, stating he killed the two people in “self-defense”. This put the internet into outrage, with many people being very offended that the trial ended this way and wanting justice. People claim that Rittenhouse’s court decision was swayed because of him being a white man, which I do believe was a part of the decision.

     The Kyle Rittenhouse trial has been a true display of how strange and corrupt the American government system can be. To have a man who killed two people released without punishment simply makes no sense and the impact of the case has been terrible. This case brings to the light the bias of the court and the corruption of the people.

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